Reece turns ONE and The Olympics, London 2012

This weekend was my nephew's first birthday!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO REECE! 

Reece's birthday fell on the same day as the London Olympics Opening Ceremonies.  So the birthday boy celebrated in a whirlwind of red, white and blue!  Everyone came to the party in their best patriotic gear!

Uncle Steve got Adeline an offical Olympic outfit from Ralph Lauren so it was only fitting that she sport her jumpsuit to the party!  It was beastly hot, but the kids had a blast running around the house and playing in Elin's playhouse in the backyard. 

Reece loved his birthday cake and dove into the icing like a champ.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY KIDDO!

30 Week Pregnancy Highlights Baby #3

30 Week Pregnancy Highlights - Baby #3

How Far Along: 30 weeks
Size of baby: Baby B is measuring on target at 3 lbs, 3 oz.
Total Weight Gain/Loss: 163 lbs. Gained 26 total.
Maternity Clothes: In maternity dresses for the most comfort and wearing maternity shorts and t-shirts.
Gender: THINK PINK! IT'S A GIRL! WE ARE THRILLED!
Movement:  TONS of movement.  Lots of rumbles in the middle of my belly with a few thumps down low.
Sleep: I sleep on my left side and I am starting to wake up more often in the night. I get uncomfortable on my side and have to sit up and stretch before going back to bed.
What I miss: Cardio exercise - although I never stop chasing my two other kids around so I have made up for it!
Cravings: Not many. I am mostly hungry in the morning before lunch and ok during the afternoon. Still can't handle spicy food and milk sometimes makes my stomach hurt.
Best Moment this week: Seeing my baby girl on the ultrasound screen.  We went for a follow up visit and she's got a great heart, TONS of hair and chubby cheeks. 

* I passed the glucose test but I did test low on iron.  I am now taking iron medicine on top of the prenatal vitamin and Macrobid to avoid bladder infections.  It's very uncomfortable and I hope to alter the meds after talking to my doctor this week.

*Baby #3 is now breech.  Her head is under my chest, her back is on my right side, her bottom is sitting on my bladder (explains a lot!) and her legs curl upward on my left side towards my chest.  Her hands are in between her legs which explains the knocking I feel down low. 

Soccer City Camp 2012

Last week marked the end of William's first official soccer camp.  Since it's beastly hot here, I was thrilled to find a soccer camp that took place indoors.  Soccer City is a state of the art soccer complex in South Tulsa.  They host leagues for all ages, classes, birthday parties, and camps. 

I came across Soccer City online and although we dodn't know anyone who actually plays soccer there, I took a chance and signed William up for a week long camp from 9am until noon.  At first I thought 3 hours of soccer would be too much for him.  I was nervous that he'd think the first hour was great and then be too tired or bored to keep going.  But, the coaches explained that the camps are made up of tons of kids and the small groups spend the 3 hours playing games that teach the kids how to play soccer without them really knowing they are learning the sport. 

They took plenty of breaks and each day William took a snack.  His most favorite part of snack time was taking a dollar to the snack bar concession and picking out a treat to add to what I had packed him.  One day he selected Cheetos and the other days it was a toss up between Skittles and fruit snacks. 

As it turns out, William knew 2 kids in his camp class and I think that settled his nerves a little bit.  Parents are welcome to come and go or stay the entire time, but Adeline and I were not about to stay 3 full hours.  I would stay the first 20 minutes to watch William and then Adeline and I would either go home or run some errands.

Each day when we picked William up he was HOT AND DRENCHED with sweat.  But my boy had the BIGGEST SMILE on his face after every practice.  He LOVED LOVED LOVED soccer camp.  I know his skills improved and he has asked several times to do the camp again.  I am sure we'll be back next summer!  Thank you Soccer City!

Adeline in pigtails 16 months

Adeline has had a full head of hair since the day she was born.  In the hospital, her hair was so thick that she could wear a real hairbow on a clip.  I have loved it.  For a long time, she would keep a hairbow in her hair and stare at herself in the mirror while saying, "CUUUUTEEEE!" 

But now that my girl is 16 months old, she has wised up and every time I put a hairbow in her hair, she yanks it out in 2 seconds.  This process irritaes me to no end which is completely selfish and stupid of me.  But I think she looks adorable with a hairbow and it is a fun way to dress her up.  However, I have accepted it as a phase and just don't try hard to make her wear a bow....unless it's for pictures, a special occassion or something of the sort. 

Her hair is still pretty thick and I usually spray it with detangler before combing it out each morning. It is growing out in the back and the ends have a really cute curl. So far, we've only given her bang trims. Her hair can be a mess too. It's growing at different lengths and in this heat, it's all over the place in a matter of minutes.  Since wearing a bow is a struggle, I have been waiting for her hair to get longer so I could try styling it again. 

So today, I decided to try pigtails.  AND HOW CUTE IS THIS SWEET LITTLE GIRL!!!!!



I will admit that I chased her around the bathroom for 20 minutes with a spray can of detangler, a hair comb and 2 rubber bands.  It took me 3 tries, and this was my best effort.  It's slightly messy and a little uneven, but I consider it a victory.  And, she looks adorable.

In fact, Adeline looked at herself in the mirror and said, "CUUTTTEE!!"  She spent a few minutes touching the pigtails and I could tell she was trying to figure out what in the world I had done to her.  But, she didn't try to pull them out.  Again, V.I.C.T.O.R.Y.

Looking at these pictures, I laugh a little too.  Her bangs are a mess in this 105 degree heat, but she looks JUST like her personality....cute, spunky and oh those cheeks!  SQQQQQUUEEEZZEEE!!

She wore her pigtails out to dinner with some friends and to Orange Leaf for some yogurt. 

YEAH ADELINE!  I think we need to shop for some cute pigtail accessories!

WBB age 5.5 years - Favorite Things

I have VERY fond memories of my dad pulling out a spiral notebook at the dinner table and going around the room asking my brother and sister and me all about our favorite things. He 'd write the answers down and note the date and our age at the time of the interview. We did this about 2 or 3 times a year and each time we'd open the notebook, everyone got a kick out of what they said when they were 6, 7, 8, etc. years old. I consider that childhood memory as one of my most "favorite things" about my dad. 

So here is the 2nd update from this year.

William Barron - 5.5 Years old July 18, 2012

"My Favorites"

• color - blue and red
• animal - giraffe
• airplane - Jumbo Jet
• number- 100
• food- pizza
• candy - tootsie rolls
• train - remote control trains
• toy - airplanes
• friend - colin
• car - race cars
• thing about Holland Hall - seeing Mrs. Overcash
• thing to do with Dada - unload the bags from the car
• thing to do with Mom Mom - have her lay next to me
• book - Bernstein Bears and Mr. Men
• song - Mr. Roboto
• about Bebe - playing with her
• about Pops - reading books with him
• about Gram - her hot tub
• about Bubba - scanning papers
• drink - milk
• at night - watch Chasing UFOs
• about morning - eating breakfast bars
• to wear - t-shirts
• place to go in the car - airport
• on a trip - Hanston, KS and to Oklahoma City
• about Santa - he lives in Antartica

Adeline's last day of summer camp

Adeline has been attending summer camp at Kirk of the Hills church.  It's an 8 week session and as you might recall, she was not a fan of summer camp when it first started.  As the weeks have progressed, Adeline has taken to her teachers and the routine of me dropping her off and returning to pick her up.  She's made great strides in her separation anxiety and I am so proud of her.  

I signed her up for the Tuesday/Thursday camp session from 9am until 2:30pm.  My goals for summer camp were 1. to teach her that I leave and come back 2. to allow her to get use to the church classrooms so when she comes for school in the fall, it will be familiar and 3.  to give me some time with just William and/or just myself!  I'd say we accomplished all of these goals and Adeline is well on her way to embracing Mother's Day Out in the fall.

Today was her last day of camp.  Here she is on her way....slightly skeptical:

 William and I took her to the church this morning and she marched right on in her classroom without a tear or distress signal.  She was all smiles.  Adeline's teachers told William and I to come pick her up around 2pm because there was going to be an ice cream social and art show for all the campers.  William was totally fired up for the ice cream and I thought it was so cute the teachers were hosting an art show....afterall, Adeline is only 16 months old.  I was curious what kinda project she had created.

When we picked Adeline up, her teachers told me this was HER BEST DAY EVER at camp.  They were so pleased with how far she's come and said she NEVER asked for me during the day, NEVER cried a tear, NEVER acted tired or upset.  She was ALL SMILES.  I was so happy to hear that!  The teachers even said how much she laughed and played and how fun it was too see her joyful spirit shine.  That sure made me feel good!  I was able to capture my happy lady(sans hair bow) upon our reunion.

So off we went to the art show and ice cream social.  Adeline's class finger painted giraffes.  William ate his ice cream and after we boiled a bit in the 105 degree heat, we hit the road.

As for William and I, we hit the town while Adeline was at camp.  First he ate a hearty breakfast of chocolate chip pancakes at First Watch and then we hit the bowling alley for a rockin' good time.  William loves to bowl and this was a great activity to beat the heat.  He got a kick out of bowling my turn a few times and spent some serious time experimenting with different size bowling balls. We also hit a bookstore, picked up a package from Uncle Steve, grabbed a snack and hit a few shops.

While the boys are away.....

Dan and William left for family camp in CO last Friday.  I am not able to travel now, so Adeline and I stayed behind and we've been having lots of fun!  The first weekend the boys were gone, we went to OKC and played with Bebe and Pops as well as Bubba and Gram.  Monday, Adeline and I played around town, ran some errands and picked up her new slide off Craigslist!  She loves it and I think it gives her a break from the small apartment and the one bucket of toys we have out of storage. 

 Tuesday, Adeline went to summer camp at church and I spent the day alone!  I got a facial at the spa - my personal slice of heaven on earth, hit a few design showrooms for tile, carpet, fabric and cabinets and before I knew it, it was time to get my girl at school.  We spent most of our late afternoon at home on the slide and indoors with her toys. 

Wednesday, I signed her up for a trial class at The Little Gym.  I thought it would give us something new to do together and save us from spending time in the heat.  The class started out rather quickly with lots of loud music, a bounce house and balls bouncing everywhere.  Adeline was really confused and overwhelmed.  She was a nervous wrek and clung to me as if I was going to leave her there alone!  When I removed her from the organized chaos, she was much better.  She stopped crying and wanted to walk around the gym and explore all the climbing toys instead of participating with the other kiddos.  I didn't care at all as this was a trail class and I kinda feel like I threw it all on her at once. 

She HATED her turn on the rolling ball.  She screamed and felt so bad for making her do it.  I thought perhaps she might climb on it and get a real kick out of rolling on her belly, but I was wrong! 


She LOVED LOVED LOVED bubble time, playing basketball and ringing the bells.  I am starting to think that music is more her speed!






Once we got home from her class, we had some lunch and watched Bubble Guppies.  Then my sweet little lady took a 2 hour nap!  I think the ol' gym took the wind out of her sails for sure!




When she woke up, Adeline was ready for a quick snack and then we hit the road for Jack's house.  Jack has a great playroom and we haven't see him or his mom, Michelle, is over 3 weeks.  That is not like us!  Our good friend Torre and her little boy, John Robert, joined in the fun.  Together, these 3 clowns enjoyed baking in Jack's kitchen and destroying just about every toy in the playroom.  Michelle, Torre and I had a great time catching up and the playdate was a fun way to spend my afternoon.

Tomorrow, Adeline heads back to summer camp and then we'll head for OKC.  Our cousin, Reece, is being baptized on Sunday and I am so glad we'll be there to celebrate!

As for my boys, Dada has sent a few pictures of their Colorado adventures.  Here are a few taken with Dan's phone.  Looks like they are having a great time!