Fayetteville Trip

In December, my brother's family moved to Centerton, just outside of Fayetteville, so that my brother could finish his Civil Engineering degree. We have been eager to make the trip up to see their new house and visit with Shaw-Man. Of course, we had to go to a Razorback game while we were there! I was a little nervous because it was the first time that we traveled more than 1 hour in the car with Sam. Allie was a great car rider and even made several trips to Florida without so much as a wimper. Sam, on the other hand, does not like riding in the car. With the risk of being carted off to jail, I'll admit that his Mimi held him some all of the way. I was worried about having 2 babies and a 4 year-old under one roof all weekend, but we had a blast and other than a few fussy moments, everyone was happy and enjoyed themselves.

Friday afternoon Avery took us to the Bentonville Square where the original Walmart store was. He happened to have coordinating outfits for the boys, so we decided that while they were too young to argue, we would dress them alike. I can't wait to see all of the fun and trouble that these two get into together.

They were not as excited about the outing as we were! Fun Times!

Allie got her first hula-hoop at the Walmart store.

The square had an awesome grassy area in the center with a water fountain, so we decided to have an impromptu photo session.

Saturday, we all loaded up and went to the Razorback Baseball game. I was so excited to take Allie and Sam to a game. I have always had a love for baseball and when I was in school at Fayetteville, I spent more time at the baseball games than I care to admit. Given that Sam and Shaw are babies and need to be fed and changed and put to sleep according to their schedule, I thought that they did great. We actually stayed for the entire game!

Sam wasn't so happy about getting dressed up for the game. Shaw looks like he is trying to calm him down!

Allie had a blast and Sam slept.

So Josh has a pond across the street from his house and he had been telling Allie that he was going to take her fishing. All the way up there that is all that she talked about. So after the game, we let the boys nap and Josh and John take Allie fishing. She actually caught her first fish and was so excited until Josh tried to make her touch it.

This was after Shaw woke up and decided to join in on the fun.

I am so proud of my brother and the daddy that he is. I so wish that my dad could be here to say it himself, but I know he is watching Josh and is proud of him for the life he is building for his family. I can't wait for our boys to grow up together!

We had such a great time! I can't wait to do it again!

Daddy Date: "If You Take a Mouse to School"

Shortly after Sam and I got home from the hospital, Allie's Pre-School class went to see the play "If You Take a Mouse to School." John went with Allie's class because I couldn't go but I think he really enjoyed getting to spend time with Allie, just the two of them. So much of our daily routine has been altered to make sure that Sam is taken care of, that we worry that Allie feels left out some. After all, she has been the center of our universe for 4 years now.

Allie was super duper excited!

Here is a picture of John with his babies. By the way, it was pure coincidence that John wore a yellow shirt and Allie's school shirt is yellow.

It melts my heart when John and Allie spend precious time together. I firmly believe in the importance of her having a strong relationship with her daddy. I am so blessed to have a husband who takes time to build a relationship with his little girl.

Easter

Our first Easter as a family of 4! I was so excited to dress Allie and Sam in their matching smocked outfits (the only smocked outfit that John would let me buy for Sam). However, with the business of having 2, this ended up being the only picture of Sam with his Easter outfit. For Easter we went to our church service and then drove to Nana's for lunch and a Easter egg hunt. Allie was so funny this Easter. She has been learning about Jesus' death and Resurrection at AWANA, so we talked a lot about what Easter means. One morning, we were talking about Easter and I asked her what Easter meant. She responded quickly "That Jesus is alive!" Then she turned to me with her typically-inquisitive-Allie face and asked, in not so many words, so what's up with the Easter bunny? I totally was not prepared and blew her off until I could ask my mommy friends how to answer this question. I love this age!

Here is Allie opening her and Sam's Easter baskets.

Here Allie is hunting eggs at Nana's. She had a blast!

I love being able to go to all of Allie's preschool parties. Here are some pictures of her Easter egg hunt at preschool.

Allie and her buddy Bella

 Look what I found!

Sam: 1 Month Old

Sweet Sam! The last month has gone by like a roller-coaster! Though you look more and more like your sister these days, it has become quite clear that you two have very different personalities! Your sister was a very laid back baby. She hardly ever cried and even had to be worken up at night to eat. You, however, inherited your Momma's patience, and unfortunately, your Momma's tummy troubles. Over the last month, it has become clear to us that your belly was not liking the formula that we had been giving you. So we tried several different formulas and finally had to take you to the doctor. The doctor suggested that we put you on Similac Alimentum, the Cadilac version of formula! Well sweet boy, you decided that you liked this new formula best if it is pre-mixed, so if you do not have any money with which to attend college, you can blame it on your expensive taste, also inherited from your Momma! Once we figured our your tummy issues, we got to see how sweet you really are when you are not hurting. We are so in love with you Sam! You are so worth every day we had to wait to meet you!

Here are some of your stats today:

Weight: 9 pounds 12 oz (Over 2 pounds gained since we left the hospital)

Clothes: You are wearing 0-3 months

Diapers: Newborn (I didnt buy hardly any newborn diapers because your sister never wore them)

Formula: Similac Alimentum (Pre-Mixed!) 4 oz every 3-4 hours

Sleeping: At night you will sleep 2.5-3 hours at a time. You will sometimes take a 3 hour nap during the day, but that is pretty unusual. And most of the time, you prefer to be held while you sleep. You love to cuddle with your Daddy in the recliner.

Your sister is so in love with you! She wants to know where you are and what you are doing at all times!

Allie Cameron Is 4!

It is so hard to believe that my baby girl is 4-years-old! In true Allie-fashion she had not one, but 3 Birthday parties. With all of the commotion over Sam, I wanted Allie to have her special day on her actual birthday. So we got a cake and had Mimi over for dinner and birthday cake. We also decided to give her her gift from us. It was actually her and her daddy's birthday gift. She has had so much playing her X-Box. Her favorite game is a rafting game. She will literally jump up and down for hours.

Cake on her Birthday 3-19-12

Allie had her birthday party a week later on the 24th because I knew that Sam would probably come pretty close to her birthday. I planned to have her party at a local inflatable playhouse because it would be low-key and there wouldn't be a lot of preparation required. I knew that I would be sleep-deprived and stressed with a newborn so low-key was right up my alley. Normally, I start planning Allie's party right after Christmas and feel the need to do bigger and better than the last, but I had to take a break from that this year. It turned out that Allie had probably more fun at this party than she has had at all of the others combined.

I had my friend Sandra make Allie's cake. It was delicious and too cute. She incorporated all of "Allie's Girls." That was the one and only stipulation that she had was that all of "her girls" be on her cake.

Here are some pictures from her party at Party Central:

This is Allie at her party at preschool. We brought cupcakes for snack and once again celebrated our sweet girl.

Some things about Allie at this age:

She loves, loves, loves all things Strawberry Shortcake. She asks 1st thing in the morning and 1st thing when she gets home from school to watch "Strawberry Shortcake on the Hub." She also loves My Little Pony and playing on DisneyJR and the Hub on the computer. Her latest craze, however, is Alvin and the Chipmunks!

She loves to sing and dance. She still watches her Cedarmont Kids moves and will sing at the top of her lungs. It is not uncommon to be in the middle of the grocery store and Allie will bust out in song and dance. It melts my heart to hear her sing songs about Jesus in the car.

She has almost completed her first year in AWANA Cubbies. She has learned sooooo much about the Bible. She definitely still has a strong will, but she has a huge heart that I pray she will fill to the brim with the truths of God's word. Lately, any time she hears us talk about someone being sick or not feeling well, she will say that we need to pray for them. One day, Mimi said that she didn't feel good, and Allie stopped what she was doing, bowed her head, and prayed for her right then and there. Thank you God for AWANA and the blessing it has been to my sweet Allie-girl!

Allie has aways said funny things and said regular things in a funny way. My favorites right now are brep-test (breakfast) and to-mar-no (tomorrow). She also always says "Next week, when I was your age..." Or "Next week when I was a baby." We are going to have to work on our verb-tenses.
Allie Cameron, You are one of the best things that has ever happened to us! I pray that God will use your sweet spirit and awesome personality to further His kingdom. I love you to the moon and back!