Spotted

Sleeping soundly....in his pack n play.

With big sister peeking over quietly.





Startled by the camera.  Confused.  Disoriented.





Happy!  Delighted to see us! 






I think I'm going to "crate train", I mean "pack n play train" Rhodes.  :-)  I've never really needed to do that type of training before, but something tells me once he's mobile, I'm gonna need somewhere to put him that's safe and that he likes.

And actually, so far, he seems to enjoy his "alone" time.  Go figure.  Life is so "stimulating" for him, it's almost like he enjoys the simplicity of him and a few toys sitting alone in the crib.  Most of the time he dozes off.  Which is GREAT!  He does NOT like me to rock him or hold him until he goes to sleep - he's a "do it on his own" kind of boy!


On another note, I'm feeling kind of guilty lately.  About the content of my blog.  It seems that most of my posts are about Lillian and Rhodes.  And sadly it's because they're my two most photogenic subjects right now.  Olivia can't stand when I get the camera out.  And Landon, well, he won't sit still long enough for me to take pics.  But I guess they had a lot of time on the blog before.  Rhodes is just playing catch up!

I Blame Robert

So Easter morning went off with out a hitch.  At least if you don't count the fact that the girls arose before the sun, Landon devoured 12 doughnut holes for breakfast, and about 1/2 the chocolate easter candy was consumed by our kids before 9:00 a.m.  Now that I type that out, I'm shocked they actually sat through the church service!

We returned home to eat a very yummy easter dinner and the other half of the easter candy, plus the candy that the kids hunted in the eggs.

At this point, Lillian was complaining of a tummy ache.  That's what happens when you eat too much candy!

Here is Kris, Robert's brother, and his beautiful family!!

We played with all the cousins and took pictures!




























See all Kenzie's hair?  Well, she and Lillian are like 2 or 3 weeks apart.  Umm, yes, Kenzie, can you please loan Lillian some of those beautiful locks?!?

Lillian would walk up behind Kenzie and just pick up her hair and run her fingers through it.  I think she was kinda jealous!  Heck, I'm kinda jealous!

Then it was time to say goodbye.  Around 3:00 pm we packed everyone in the car so we could be back in time for dinner and early bedtime for school the next day.






Well, God had other plans.

You see.......for Easter, my mom gave Robert a book.  A really, really, really good book.

So on the long car ride to Mississippi, I suggested that Robert read the book out loud to me and help pass the time. 


Oh, you ask....


...."How is that possible with 4 small kids??"

Absolutely, no clue - but God clearly shut the mouths of the lions babes.  We read 20 of the 40 chapters on the way there.  IT.WAS.WONDERFUL!  And kinda romantic too! ;-)

So needless to say, I wanted to finish up the book with all the hair raising stories of faith and trust that Frank Barker talks about through the book!

Well, when we started our trip back, we had about 1/4 tank of gas left in our car.  We were going to "get out of town" before stopping to fill up.

So we get going, I set the cruise control and Robert starts reading.  Well, I go into "lala" land hanging onto every last word Robert is reading!  I mean these stories of how he {Frank Barker} trusted God through many tough times (personally and financially) and was almost killed on several occasions from being an Air Force Fighter Pilot were riveting!!  I wasn't paying any attention to the gas gauge one bit.

Then I feel the car shut off.  I let out an "Ahh!"  To which Robert say, "What, did you see a cop!?!?!?"  ('Cause let's face it, the cruise control button wasn't quite pointing directly to the  suggested 70 mph) ;-)

"Nope!" I said, "We just ran out of gas!"

Well, long story short, Robert jumped out of the car and flagged somebody down.  We found out that the nearest exit to a gas station was 18 miles, but our "rescuer" kindly took Robert into Hickory or Chunky (yes, Chunky, MS) to a little tiny gas station that we would never have known was there - had it not been for the "good ole country boy" that pulled over for us.  I sat on the highway for maybe 20 minutes. 

The kids got all giddy at what was going on.  And thankfully, Robert wasn't upset with me.

But hey - it's not my fault!  I blame Robert and his sexy voice for captivating me with this enthralling biography!

Oh....and it's a biography I highly recommend!!  So go out and buy it! :-)

Easter!

Easter was with Robert's family this year.  Which was perfect because my family seemed to scatter elsewhere for this holiday this year.

This was baby Rhodes very first time to Mississippi!


And we managed to get ALL the cousins together.  Quite a feat, in my opinion!  Eight of them....so far!  There are sure to be more down the road!  Ages 12 down to 6 months!  Mimi and Poppy are surely blessed!

Brandon and Landon.  Rhymes.  hehe.  Threw Lillian for a loop.  She called Brandon, "BrLandon". 

And they were joined at.the.hip.  They threw baseballs and caught footballs for hours!

Kenzie.  She is HILARIOUS!  She talks to you like she is just as old as you.  She told someone at one point, "No sweetheart, you can't have that."

She was so lovable...she hugged and kissed everyone!

Abbey and Olivia.  The other duo.  Everyone played so well together!

We did a little celebrating Saturday night.

Baby Addison turned TWO!!!  She came in wearing a tutu!  Such a girly girl!!

We did a little egg dying.

And this squirt just sat around....

......eating tags!

We wound up nekid for this task...didn't want to ruin our pretty dresses!

All the colorful eggs!  That made delicious deviled eggs the next day!!

Flashback Friday

Olivia - 13 months with Lil's five puppies she had on Valentine's night 2004.

We Have Consonants! Just Not The Ones I Wanted.

Rhodes had his 6 month appointment yesterday.  Even though he's almost 7 months.  BUT, he's very healthy according to the doc.  And flirted with all the nurses with his (very loud) squeals, blue eyes, and smiles!

He's been squealing for a while now, but has yet to master the consonant sounds.  I asked the doc about it and she said it's no big deal.

Well, of course, at the dinner table last night, he starts belting out "DA-DA-DA-DA-DA".....

Tear.  I've been working so hard with "ma ma ma" for a while now.  I would put my mouth against his to try and teach him.  I let him grab my mouth...anything to help him grasp the "m" consonant sound.  I was determined to have at least one child say my "name" first. 

Nope.  Oh well.

Ironically, after he started babbling the "D" sound, he started eating baby food better.  I'm guessing it has something to do about losing that instinctual tongue thrust babies have when they are born.  It all finally clicked for him!

Please ignore the ugly place mats, unfinished photo albums, and all the background chatter. :-)


Happy Thursday!!