Road Trip: Birmingham

A few weeks ago (yes, I'm that behind), Addie, the little girls, and I went to Birmingham to visit our sweet friend's the Lewis'. Long, long, long overdue visit!

There's something about this family that when you leave them you feel a bit refueled, encouraged, and always uplifted. They have a way of reminding you that you're loved and valued, that you are doing a good job juggling 3, and that joy comes from being with family and friends!*

(*disclaimer: I am not saying many, many others in our life are not this way as well; but this post is about the Lewis' ;)

It was an absolutely breathtaking day, and the 4 big kids ate lunch outside! Can you see Addie watching Abigail?

The mamas went in and out and mostly chilled inside with the little girls. You see Audrey Kate trying to sit up here? I do believe she was on her 2nd or 3rd outfit by then.

Anne Perry was in our bouncy seat from home, but they both got the treat of playing with a new toy!

If only there were big sisters for borrow. I'd have to have an Abigail visit us on a daily basis. She was so helpful with the little girls and with Addie! You see Addie and Izzy laughing hysterically here at Abigail rolling back and forth?

Well of course Addie had to join in the hilarious fun!

Oh but wait, now all 3 big girls are being silly. I do believe Audrey Kate was amused!

Allison's two younger ones (Jack and Izzy) went down for a nap, so that left Addie and Abigail to watch some videos on the computer and play outside some. It got really quiet though, and then Abigail appeared at the door: Come look what I made for Addie! {Allison and I exchanged looks} And this is what she'd created...

Yes, we did promptly put a stop to the two barefoot girls under the deck playing with the disassembled swing set (nails and all). Considering they weren't supposed to be down there in the first place, they were having quite the time. It was so sweet of Abigail to make Addie a slide though.

That's another reason I love visiting this precious family: what better a role model for Addie to have! I pray she has a heart as sweet as loving and as giving as Abigail's!

And I leave you with these few pictures I took while the big kids were eating. I don't often get a smile on camera and even less often get a smile with eyes...so I kinda fell in love with these!

Thanks for letting us come visit you Lewis'!

Visiting with "Old" Friends

Paul, Addie, and I went to Birmingham Sunday afternoon to visit the Hartzogs and the Weathers! Jen, Neal and Will were down for the week from Chapel Hill and met us at Lauren, Jeff, and Ryan's house. Jen, Lauren, and I were all Chi Omegas at Samford and Paul and Neal were both Pi Kaps. The Hartzogs had never met Addie, and none of us had ever met Will.

Will was so excited to see Addie that he went straight to touch her face (see Addie's eyes)! Neal and Jen were a little alarmed that he might have hurt her! We reassured them that living with two 60lb dogs (and three cats) has toughened Addie up!

"...gentle"
much sweeter!

Addie with Jen and Neal
(she was very serious about meeting her potential future boyfriend's parents!)

Addie was a little "twitterpated" with Will. She just watched him with her little hands folded! I think Will was much more interested in her paci than her though! :)

Ryan has this great tunnel, and he was getting ready to show Jen how to crawl through it. Will even made it through it! Wow!


Ryan crawling through his tunnel! He was the big boy of the bunch!


Ryan playing with his tunnel and Mommy! He has the cutest laugh!

Will found a new toy! He was a little unsteady on it (Jen was right there next to him), but he did a pretty good job on it! Might be a future investment for the Hartzogs.

We took no less than 30 pictures of the 6 of us. None of ours came out great...so we'll wait to get a copy of Lauren's or Jen's! The boys were more interested in looking at each other than the camera!

Anna & Addie, Jen & Will, Lauren & Ryan

Paul and Addie & Neal and Will


the baby of the bunch

A Day to Celebrate!

On Tuesday, Addie and I rode to Birmingham with my mom for her oncologist check-up. The good news is, she continues to be cancer free! (reason to celebrate #1) Praise God! Addie loved meeting her surgical oncologist, Dr. Bland; and immediately smiled at him when he walked in the room (which was right after she had just finished wailing for 15 minutes because she was hungry an hour before she usually eats! ...growing?...just out of her element?...testing me? Who knows!)

We always love to see our Birmingham friends, and the Lewis' were all well, for the first time in maybe 3 months...whew! (reason to celebrate #2). It's amazing what tubes, an inordinate number of antibiotic rounds, and complete quarantine can do! Poor Josh and Allison. So...we got to meet them all for lunch!

Addie (almost 4 months) and Izzy (closer to 6 months)
(we've decided the are approximately 10 weeks apart in age!)
(Can you believe they both have Grey's Anatomy name...but neither Allison nor I have EVER watched that show :)
As Allison said, the last time we visited, Addie looked like an infant and Izzy looked like a toddler (a huge difference in size!). But today, it was so obvious that their weight difference is closing fast! I hope they'll get to be buddies as they grow up together!

I love all of Josh and Allison's kids, and Jack is just one of those little boys you can't get enough of! He (unbeknownst to him) had my mom and me in stitches watching him (attempt to) eat his mac-n-cheese with a fork from a bowl sitting on a plate. It was too high up on the table and that fork just wouldn't pick up those mac-n-cheese pieces. He was so determine and so cute!

Addie taking a cat nap. I could still just sit and watch her sleep!

Abigail loves to "be shy"...but the cute thing is that she's the farthest thing from shy! Her mom was trying to get her to tell me what she did yesterday. In this sweet little voice, she told her (and me) she would have to wait to tell me when she wasn't shy anymore. When I asked her when that might be, she told me it wouldn't be until she was a big girl (like her mommy!). She did end up telling me with a few prompts from mom and few guesses from me (before she became a "big girl.") She had gone to her 1st swimming lesson at the gym! Fun times!!!
I asked her if she would take a picture with Allison and me. After she conceded to sit in Allison's lap, she told us she wasn't going to smile (as she smiled saying it)...but her daddy managed to get the cutest smile out of her!
What sweet angels they all are!