Saturday, February 21, 2015

January happenings

January was a hectic month for us.  We were busy about every weekend, welcomed a niece and two nephews, I made a trip to Dallas, but we also managed to find time to slow down and relax.



Lily's learned how to pout her lip...
 
The girls got a trampoline for Christmas, and it's hilarious to watch Lily jump.

Ainsley got a few games for Christmas, and we've been playing a lot of games in our house.  She even talked Uncle Tanner and Whitney into playing Candy Land one night.

Joel kept the girls while I was in Dallas, and Ainsley went to help get some cows up one afternoon with her Dad.  They got along pretty good without Mommy, but everyone was happy to see me when I got home!  I brought the girls a surprise back from Dallas with me, and Lily loved the Frozen microphone I brought back for Ainsley.  She claimed it as her own, and walked around the house singing "Let It Go", or just "Gooooooo" in Lily language!
Helping Daddy with the cows

Daddy let Lily have her baby with her during lunch while Mommy was gone!

 We spent a Sunday afternoon at Dad's.  It was the big game before the Super Bowl and Joel had bought all of us Packers gear for Christmas, so we were all decked out for the big game.  Unfortunately, the Packers lost, so we had one unhappy Daddy the rest of the night.  We hadn't been at Dad's long before he came out of the bathroom and said the end of the qtip broke off in his ear and was stuck down in his ear.  We were finally able to get it out with some help of some hydrogen peroxide and tweezers!
Operation:  get qtip end out of Dad's ear
Lily was excited to meet her newest cousin Brooks.  
What does Brooks say?  "WAAAHHHHHHH!!!"
The kids all played during the game, and somehow they all ended up getting along fairly well.
 




It's so fun to watch Lily look up to her big sister, but can also be scary to think about.  She watches everything Ainsley does and tries to imitate her.  Lily learned the "head banging" on the couch from her big sister.  She really loves her big sissy.  Lily's been talking more and picks up new words every day.  She has a definite attitude, and doesn't like it when things don't go her way.  We just blame it on the red hair.  At about the 12 second spot in this video, you can see the ginger coming out in her.  She likes to cross her arms, and say "NO!"  Here she is in this video saying "cheese" while I was trying to video her.  She kept looking at the light, and I don't know how she wasn't seeing stars afterwards!

Lily's also learned how to drive the princess car, and begs to drive it every time she's in the garage.  She doesn't understand how to steer yet, but I'm sure she's going to cruising around like a teenager this summer in it!



Snack time!



She dressed herself, and thought she needed to take her baby with her
We celebrated Papa Jim's birthday, and even made him a birthday cake.  His birthday cake may have been a practice cake for Ainsley's birthday party the next weekend, but he seemed to enjoy the Elsa cake!



I found some pictures while we were at Jim and Rita's, and I'm pretty sure Lily looks a little (or a whole heck of a lot) like her Aunt Fer.
Is that Jennifer or Lily?!  And check out Joel and Jeremy!

Brooks Alden

Within a week, Joel and I got a new niece and two new nephews!  Brooks arrived exactly a week after Brooklyn and Walker.  Jamie made it to the hospital with little time to spare. Brooks came very quickly, and arrived weighing 8 pounds 11 ounces.  Jamie has some big babies!
The day Brooks arrived, we were getting freezing rain, and I was leaving for Dallas the next day.  I decided I couldn't go a week without seeing the little guy, so made the trek to Springfield that Sunday night to see the him.  He definitely made the trip worthwhile.  He had the chubbiest cheeks, a full head of dark hair, and kept sticking his little tongue out!




Hudson didn't seem to care much about his new brother.  He was more worried about getting into everything he could find in the room!



It was a very short visit, as I still needed to get home and finish packing in order to be at the airport by 6 am the next morning.  Ainsley was once again sad that she couldn't go to the hospital to see baby Brooks, but she was able to meet him that next week.  My girls are going to have so much fun over the next few months with all of these new babies!

Brooklyn Kay and Walker Lee

Brooklyn and Walker arrived in early January.  I know Drake was happy for them to finally get here, so he didn't have to listen to his Mom complain about being pregnant any more.  He could imitate her pretty good near the end.  Jennifer was induced on Sunday morning and the babies had arrived mid afternoon.

Brooklyn arrived first at 6 pounds 9 ounces and Walker followed at 6 pounds 4 ounces.  Joel and I drove up to the hospital to see the babies early that evening.  Walker was taken to the Nicu for observation right after birth, and was just getting released from the Nicu when we got there.  Immediately after seeing Walker, we decided he looked just like a Dyche.  Brooklyn looked more like Drake, but they definitely didn't look alike!




Proud big brother!
Dad had come over while we ran to the hospital, and the girls had lots of fun with Grandpa Bill.  Ainsley didn't want him to leave and refused to give his boots back!

Lily loves babies, or anyone her size or smaller.  I knew she'd go nuts over the twins, and Ainsley was constantly asking when she could see Brooklyn and Walker.  We finally got over to the house the next weekend to visit and let the girls meet their newest cousins.  Both of the girls held Brooklyn, and neither one really wanted to give her up.  Lily's face lit up as soon as we gave her Brooklyn, and would tell me "NO" if I asked her if she was done holding her!

The twins have two big brothers and two big sisters to show them how to get in trouble, but I'm sure Uncle Joel will help a little along the way also.  We can't wait to watch them grow and see how ornery they are!

Final Christmas

We officially finished up Christmas at Grandma and Grandpa's in early January.  The girls had plenty of big kids to play with, and Ainsley enjoyed all the attention.
Brooke letting Ainsley win at Candy Land

Brooke loves the littles!




Hudson tended to gravitate to the big boys!
All the kids were excited for presents!







I tried getting Ainsley, Lily, and Hudson together for a picture, but it quickly turned into a pose-off between Ainsley and Preston!