Jayda's 9th B-Day and A Little Summer Catch Up!

Now it's time for a little summer catch up!  It's hard to believe, but Jayda turned 9 years old in July!  It is so crazy to me that she is already 9, and in the 4th grade!  Time really does fly!  

 

For her birthday she wanted her best friend Gabby to come over. I took all the girls to get their nails done (shellac and all), and then went to Olive Garden for dinner.  We finished the night off going to see the movie Ghostbusters.  She had a really fun day!  The next day was her actual birthday.  We put up the big water slide and let each of the girls have a friend over.  They all had a lot of fun on the slide, Jacob grilled burgers, and then we enjoyed some yummy chocolate cake, per Jayda's request.

Jayda is such a sweet girl and is growing up and maturing so much.  She is so helpful at home with Paisley.  She helps me change diapers and woks with Paisley on her physical therapy.  And Paisley sure does love her.  Yesterday when Jayda got home she wanted to hold Paisley.  I handed her to Jayda and after a few minutes I took her back so Jayda could go on about her business.  Well, when I took her back Paisley threw a fit.  Real crying and real tears because she wanted Jayda to hold her. So, needless to say, those two are pretty attached. :)  Jayda plays so well with her other sisters too.  She and Sydney definitely have their moments, but they generally get along pretty well. 

Jayda has also been doing a great job taking care of her goat.  This will be her second year to raise a goat for 4-H.  She did it last year for the first time and we all learned a lot.  I think she will do much better this year because she is already taking good care of it.  Every afternoon when she gets home from school she heads out on the 4 wheeler.  She takes her goat out for a run in the pasture then takes him back to the barn and feeds him.  On the weekend she practices walking him for the fair.  We are super proud of her for sticking with it!

Jayda had a great season this past summer with the Huntsville Lakers.  She got first place in freestyle at the post season invitationals, and got MVP of her age group.  Jayda is very competitive and that definitely comes out when she races in the pool.  That girl does not like to lose!  We were very proud of all the hard work she put in over the summer!  Hopefully we get to watch her swim for many more summers to come because we sure have fun too!

Miss Avery loved playing in the water at Jayda's birthday party.  

She is so sweet and such a water baby!

Sydney was very excited to have her best friend Sara over for the party! 

And Paisley discovered that she likes to play peek-a-boo with Daddy's hat!

She thought that was the funniest thing ever!

Checking out the doggies!  She loves watching them play.

Jayda got some really good stuff for her birthday!

A pottery wheel, yay!

Jayda with her BFF Gabby!

Lighting her own candle, of course.

"Happy 9th Birthday Jayda!"

Nana held her first ever "cousin camp" this past summer.  She had all the cousins over around 10 am on saturday, then they all stayed the night and we picked them up around lunch time on Sunday.  We went out of town to the Messina Hof Winery for our anniversary while the kids had fun at cousin camp.  And Paisley got to have a sleepover with Oma!  It was a win win for all of us.

Nana made backpacks for everybody.

Cousins all cozy on the couch.

Listening to the cousin camp rules and opening up their goody bags.

Checking out their itinerary for the day.

Sydney was so excited about her goody bag!

Cousin camp cookie cake, yum!

All of the cousins at cousin camp! Caitlyn was a "camp counselor"! ;)

Love this picture!

Silly cousins ready for a fun filled day!

The big girls started back to school a few weeks ago on August 26, 2016.  

So far they are loving their teachers and having a good time at school. 

Sydney on the first day of school with her teacher, Ms. Popp.

Jayda on the first day of school with her teacher Mrs. Dietert.

Miss Avery Mae on her first day of pre-school!  She was pretty nervous about starting school, and was upset when I left her on the first day.  Needless to say, we didn't get a picture with her teacher because Mommy had to sneak out.  So sad!  Thankfully she is doing so much better now at drop off.  She is still a little hesitant to go in, but doesn't cry anymore when I leave.  Whew!  That was so hard.

And, on the first day of school, we had a few visitors come to our house for the week!  Lauren, Xander, and baby Emmy came to see us!  We were all so glad they came all the way down from Seattle just to see us!  It was so fun meeting Emmy and having Xander here to play with the girls.  They all had a blast.

Snapping a quick picture after school one day.

Sweet sisters!

We went out for a gator ride a few times after the girls got home from school.  Xander loved riding on the gator, but wasn't a big fan of the animals!

Jayda taking Mr. Snuggles out for a little run.

Stopping for a little treat.

Lauren, Xander and Emmy going out for an afternoon ride with us.

Two cuties in matching outfits!  Thank you Oma for giving us these adorable outfits!

Paisley's Monthly Pics! ~4-9 Months~

Now that the big girls are back in school, I finally have some time to update my blog again!  These monthly pictures of Paisley have gotten harder and harder to take lately.  For one, because we have been so busy this summer, but also because she does not like to leave the stickers on!  As soon as I put them on, she takes them right off.  So, that is why the stickers are now being attached to blankets next to her while I take her pic!  Paisley is such a sweet baby girl.  She is so happy and always smiling and laughing.  I just love her little personality.  She loves her sisters and laughs at them all the time.  She also loves her mommy and daddy and usually gets upset if we hand her off to someone else.  Paisley has been doing so well with her weekly physical therapy.  She has come a long way from where she was when we started her therapy back in June!  We are so proud of her!

At 4 months Paisley started rolling over onto her side.  Yay!  She also started teething and drooling on everything!  Her first teeth must have been pushing up under her gums.  She is very ticklish on her tummy and belly laughs very loudly when we tickle her there.  It is the cutest thing ever!  Paisley also coos and talks a lot, especially to her sisters. :)

At five months Paisley rolled from her back to her tummy for the first time, hooray!  She really prefers to be on her back, so this is a big deal!  Paisley also started napping in her crib this month and really seems to like it.  She got her first tooth this month too.  It is the little one on the bottom in the front.  She looks so cute with one little toothy!

The six and seven month pictures got taken at the same time, just after she turned seven months old!  Mommy was so busy this summer I forgot to take any at six months!  Oops!  These are my favorite pictures so far!

At six months Paisley got her second tooth!  She also started rolling over from her tummy to her back.  She still does not like tummy time very much at all, but will lay on her back for a long time playing.  Paisley is teething like crazy and chews on everything all the time.  She sat in the bumbo for the first time this month, and even tried some baby cereal.  She really liked the oatmeal cereal.  We went on our first family vacation as a family of six to San Antonio this month!  Paisley was a trooper and went everywhere with us from Sea World, to the Aquatica Waterpark, to the riverwalk.  She did so good on the trip, but unfortunately got sick with an ear infection on the way home. :(  She ended up having to take 2 rounds of antibiotics, the first for the ear infection, and the second for a respiratory infection.  Thankfully we did not have to make a trip to the hospital and she was able to get over it!

At seven months Paisley really started eating baby food well.  She likes her oatmeal cereal, bananas, sweet potatoes, and squash.  So far she has liked every food I have given to her.  She also got her first top tooth this month!  So now she has a total of 3 teeth.  Paisley also got her glasses this month.  When the lady at the eye doctor's office put them on her, she just stared at her and wouldn't look away for at least 30 seconds!  I think she was amazed at how well she could see!  It was the sweetest thing ever!  I wish I could say we have been wearing her glasses everyday since then, but I can't.  Paisley does not like to leave them on at all.  She almost immediately takes them off and starts chewing on them.  I am hoping that with time as she gets older she will learn to leave them on better!

Paisley's eight and nine month pictures were also combined.  I did try to put the stickers on her, but she took them right off after I snapped one quick picture  :)  And even after I stuck them on the blanket, she was still trying to play with them!  She is a little stinker!  

At eight months Paisley really started noticing the dogs.  She watches them all the time and especially loves Daisy.  She even starts fussing when Daisy walks off and she can't see her anymore.  It is pretty funny.  Paisley also got her second top tooth this month, so she now has 4 teeth and they are so cute!  Paisley has also really started enjoying being outside.  She smiles when the wind blows in her face and loves looking around at everything when we take her outside.  Paisley started briefly sitting up for a few seconds at at time this month. Woo-hoo!  This is a very big deal since this is one of the main things we have been working on with her physical therapist!  She is also tolerating tummy time much better and will stay there for several mintues before flipping to her back.  Paisley still loves to watch and talk to her sisters.  Even when they scream, yell and act crazy...which is most of the time. :)  It seems like the crazier they are, the more Paisley cracks up at them!  Paisley did try a food that she doesn't like this month...green beans!  She made the worse face when I fed them to her and kept spitting them out!  I was wondering if there was anything she wouldn't like, and apparently we found it.

At nine months Paisley started sitting up all by herself!  She can even sit for 20 minutes or so on her own without falling over!  This is such an accomplishment for her and we are so happy!  She also will roll across the floor to get something she wants (like a water bottle or her favorite toy).  Paisley says  several sounds now that include "ma-ma" "ya-ya" "wa-wa" and "la-la".  She also makes a little popping sound with her lips all the time.  It is so cute and she loves when we make that same sound back to her.  Paisley went for a ride in the baby swing at the Elkins park for the first time this month and loved swinging!  No surprise since all of her sisters love to swing too.  She is still such a happy baby and is always laughing and smiling.  Jayda said the other day "she laughs at everything I do", and she really does.  We are so thankful to have Miss Paisley Grace in our lives and love her so very much!