Spring Break and Such

We had such a great spring break this year! I loved having all my babies with me all day and having no carline pick-ups, no afternoon activities, no afternoon homework sessions, and beautiful weather to top it all off!! 

This sweet thing didn't know it was Spring Break but she had a great week too!  

We kicked off spring break by letting Emily and Hannah have a "spend the night party."  They already share a room, but they both thought it would be sooo fun to sleep in the same bed one night. Hannah still has a rail on her twin bed so we thought that would be the safest.:)  They talked for awhile, but then Emily went to sleep, Hannah eventually went to sleep and they both slept all night. They started asking when they could do it again the very next morning.  

On Saturday (this was the first Saturday of Spring Break and the day before Easter) mom and I were going to get pedicures and we decided to bring Emily and Hannah along to get their toes and fingernails painted.  They had never been to the nail salon before and they were SO excited to be there! 

It took them about 15 minutes to get started on painting the girls' nails.  They both sat in the chairs and waited very patiently, but by the time their toes and fingernails were in the drying stage Hannah had reached her threshold.  She was bored and could not sit still.  She accidentally messed up one of her fingers within 1 minute of having it painted. Emily was sitting very carefully and not touching anything and you can see from the picture below that Hannah was done with sitting still and ready to get up.  Ha! 

Mimi and Papa came over Easter weekend and Papa got lots of snuggles with sweet Abby.  

Emily had been working on some art projects earlier in the day (her absolute favorite thing to do) and had some scrap pieces of construction paper she was going to throw away.  Mimi had the idea to have the kids help cut them up and have a confetti dance party after dinner that night.  She didn't tell the girls what they were going to do with all the little pieces of paper and they were so surprised when she started throwing paper all over the room while they were dancing to music! Fun Mimi!:) 

Hannah still asks to hold Abby all the time and gets offended when I say "not right now."  

Bert and Stanley went to play golf one afternoon and Hannah came up to me and asked me when they were going to be back from playing "Goof ball."  I wasn't planning on correcting her because it was too cute, but Emily corrected her right away.:) Oh well!  

Emily was a big help to me being home this week. She is really good at keeping Abby awake for me when I am trying to let her have some awake time. She just sits beside her and talks or sings to her.  

When Abby had just turned 3 weeks old Emily and I had this conversation...

Emily - Did she just grow ears?!?!

Me - No??

Emily - I haven't seen them before.

These kids keep us laughing fore sure. :)  

Our first Watts family selfie.  3 out of 4 smiling kiddos is not bad.  

Abby's last feeding of the day is usually sometime between 10 and 12 at night and I often wake her up for that last feeding before I put her down for the night.  She and her Daddy often like to take a nap together on the couch while they wait for her last feeding.  

One night at dinner last week I asked everyone where they would go if they could go anywhere in the world. 

Hannah - "Ingles!"

Emily - "Kayley's house or Emily's (Dickerson) house"

Both good choices but we need to broaden their horizons at some point.:)  

One afternoon Abby started getting fussy while laying on her playmat.  Claire laid down beside her and then both of the other girls joined too.  They were talking to her and trying to calm her down.  

Emily made this at school back in March.  I thought it was precious and so true.  

We made these graham cracker cool whip treats (just put cool whip in between two graham crackers and then put them in the freezer for a couple hours and they're ready to eat) one afternoon and the girls loved them.  My Nanie loved these and often had them in her freezer.  I can't make them without thinking and talking about her.  It makes me happy.  

We played A LOT of Chutes and Ladders over spring break.  Emily and Hannah have gotten good at playing it and won fair and square many times over the week.  Claire is still a bit of a wild card.  If she's in the mood to play she'll sit there spin the spinner and move her person where I tell her to, if she's not in the mood she'll fling all the people all over the place and that is a quick way to get her sisters riled up.

One afternoon I went into Hannah and Emily's room and found that Hannah had done some artwork on her headboard during nap time.  When I said "Hannah, you know you're only supposed to draw on paper, why did you do that?!"  She replied with "Because I liked it."  Thankfully it turned out she used a black crayon and it wiped right off.  

Claire is often speaking in complete sentences and she has lots of opinions and isn't afraid to let us know what they are.  Emily was very similar to this, although I would probably say Claire is talking even more than Emily was at this age.  Claire has started stuttering some over the last couple weeks. Emily did this too at almost the exact same age...down to the month.  I talked to the doctor about it when Emily did it and they said it was nothing to worry about, that she was just having a language burst and her brain was working faster than she could get the words out.  They said she would outgrow it in a month or two and she did.  Claire usually just stutters with the first word of a sentence and she gets louder each time she says the word; by the time she has said the word 3 times she is literally yelling.  She will sometimes repeat a word 6 times or so before she gets the rest of the sentence out, but she doesn't really seemed bothered by it at all and we just wait patiently on her to finish what she is saying and don't acknowledge the stuttering.  She's definitely not doing it with everything she says....maybe 20 percent of the time.  

I got some movie time snuggles with my big girls while Abby was napping one morning.  

There is something so beautiful about a curled up sweet, sleeping newborn.  

Emily was SO excited about April Fools day this year.  She spent a lot of the day on March 31st trying to think about jokes for people.  She even made a chart....she had each of her family members' name in the top of each column with a list of jokes to tell that person under it.  I'm telling you...she was sooo excited!  Most all of her jokes went a little something like this...

Emily - "Daddy, you don't have any hair on your head?!?!"  

Bert - Would gasp and pretend to be very upset by this "Are you serious?!?!"  

Emily - Would burst out laughing and say "April fools!!!"  

It was super cute!  She even had a joke for Abby.  Her April Fools joke for Abby was "Someone drank your bottle!"  She was very careful to do it when Abby was awake.  She thought it was hilarious even though Abby gave her a blank stare. 

Bert also had a little fun with April Fools this year.  After dinner he brought out this plate covered with aluminum foil and told the girls that we had brownies for dessert.  They were super excited!  He set the plate down and then uncovered it for them to find these brown E's instead of brownies.  We had to explain it to Emily and I don't think Hannah and Claire ever got it.  It sounds pretty mean especially when you throw in that Bert was doubled over laughing at his own joke, but we had a campfire outside with smores and fort sleepover planned for that evening so the girls didn't think a thing about it.  They were too excited about everything else going on.:)  

To wrap up spring break Bert had the idea to build a fire, have smores and build a fort and let the girls sleep in their sleeping bags out in the playroom with him for the night.  I thought it was a GREAT idea and was super excited because I knew how excited the girls would be.  

We all had fun making smores and sitting by the fire. Claire's face was literally covered in chocolate and marshmallow when she finished her smore and she didn't mind one bit.  

Before we headed in Bert read their nightly Bible story to the girls by the fire.  

Abby stayed snuggled up against me and seemed to enjoy her nap!  

Emily and Hannah helped their Daddy build the fort and get everything set up for their "campout" in the playroom.  They were so so excited!  

They all had flashlights, sleeping bags, the girls had their lovies and they were ready to go!  Bert could have let them sleep in the playroom by themselves, but it was so much more fun for their Daddy to spend the night with them.  Hannah of course stayed up the longest, but she finally gave up the fight and everyone slept all night.  

It was a fun spring break and I was sad to see it go! Looking forward to making more memories like these in all our spring breaks to come!

Easter 2016

Abby turned 3 weeks old on Easter this year!  We were happy happy to have her here in our arms to celebrate our risen Savior!  

My parents and brother spent Easter weekend with us this year and we so enjoyed having them.  I would have had a hard time getting everyone ready and out the door in time for the service if they hadn't all been there to help me out (Bert was at the church early that day). 

Our sweet girls on Easter morning 2016 in their matching dresses.  

They all love their newest sister!

After church we took a few family pictures in the back yard.  

Hannah's expression made me laugh in this picture.  She was telling us she was cold.  It was a smidge cool, but definitely not as cold as she was acting.:)  

We pray often that our girls will one day put their trust in the One who died for their sins and rose on the third day!  He is Risen, He is Risen indeed!  Praise God!  

Falls Park

One afternoon last week it was beautiful and Bert suggested we head down to Falls Park late that afternoon.  If you haven't had a newborn in a little while you may have forgotten, but you can start to feel a little trapped or cooped up, especially when you are nursing (feedings come around very often). Not that I would trade any of it, but those first few weeks can be tiring as newborns are quite demanding little things.  Anyway, the thought of fresh air and sunshine somewhere other than our backyard sounded wonderful to me!!  

We had the girls sitting here as we got the strollers and food and everything else out of the van.  A lady and her teenage daughter walked by while the girls were sitting there.  Just as they were walking past the kids (we were standing right there beside them) the mom said to her daughter "Aren't you glad you're an only child?!"  She didn't even try to whisper or wait until they were a few feet away. We of course didn't say anything about it until they had walked away, but we'll just agree to disagree with her!

Family picture with our strollers and kids! :) 

They loved running around and dancing on this stage!!  

We ended up eating our Chick-fil-A picnic on the stage too because the ground was still a little wet. 

We just love Falls Park and all the beautiful views!  

We thought we'd set the girls down in front of some flowers and take a picture of them together.  It wasn't meant to be, but these outtakes made me chuckle.  

Claire was saying "I NOT sit dere" as she was stomping away and Emily and Hannah were talking to Abby in the back ground.  

Bert with his 3 big girls!  I loved this picture of all of them!  

They had seen some kids rolling down this big hill while we were eating dinner and they wanted to do it too.  Well, Emily and Hannah did and once Claire realized what they were doing she was all about it.  They were hot, dirty and happy when they finished.  We were happy too, because they were. 

Abigail enjoyed her first of many trips to Falls Park!  We are welcoming spring and summer with open arms over here at the Watts house!

Grandmama's Visit

Bert's mom came up for a visit last week and we appreciate all her help so much!!  

Here she was getting some Abby snuggles one morning while I was feeding the big girls breakfast.  

She and Claire read lots of books.  Claire LOVES to be read to and once you start reading to her she insists you keep going.  As soon as you finish the book she'll say "I go get nudder one."

The girls were soooo excited about Grandmama painting their nails!  Claire actually sat perfectly still...she wants to be just like her big sisters.  

Grandmama played long games of hide and seek with the girls.  When it was Hannah's turn to count, she would count until about 5 or 6 and then decide it was time to go find them....if you're playing with her you better hide FAST!  

We once again had beautiful weather.  Here they are playing some frisbee one afternoon, while Abby was snuggled up on my chest in the shade.  

Not only did Grandmama play and play with the girls but she also cooked 4 big meals which we were able to freeze and it is enough to feed our family 9 different nights.  What a huge blessing!!  In fact, we're pulling one of them out tonight and I'm so looking forward to not having to think twice about dinner tonight!  

Grandmama with 4 of her grandbabies, holding her newest!  

Thanks so much for coming up and spending the week with us, Grandmama!  We enjoyed having you and we're so thankful for all the ways that you showed your love to us!!

First Couple Weeks

Our Abby  has been home and in our arms just over 2 weeks and it has been wonderful.  She is soooo laid back and has won the award for being our best sleeper yet, which is saying something because Emily, Hannah and Claire were all GREAT sleepers.  To celebrate being 2 weeks old Abby slept 6 hours straight in her pack-n-play the night before she turned 2 weeks.  She had consistently been doing 4 to 5 hour stretches for the 4 or 5 nights prior to that.  I'm sure we still have some rough nights ahead, but we are so proud of our good sleeper and we're enjoying having the consecutive hours of sleep.  

I took this picture when she was about 3 days old just after she had finished nursing.  She had a full belly and couldn't have been more relaxed.  

I love her cute smirk in the picture below.  

This little 2 year old is just down right cute.  She's talking ALL day long and while we can understand most everything she is saying it's still in her cute 2 year old voice, which makes most everything she is saying extra adorable.  She loves saying "That's nummy!" when she likes something that we've given her to eat.  She replaces "I" with "My" at almost every opportunity.  She is also liking to pretend....she tells Bert often "my Daddy" (pointing to herself and meaning "I'm Daddy"), "you KK" (pointing to him).

One evening Hannah said she was going to feed her Minnie and when I looked up this is what she was doing.  She was quite proud of herself.  :)

A couple of cute pictures of our little sweetie...

The first week was the hardest, which I guess is normal, but this first week seemed extra hard to me.  I basically only held her when I was nursing her and even then I wore a mask and gloves.  I was still coughing a lot and was scared to death I was going to get her (or someone else in the house) sick.  I didn't get to hold the other girls either and by the end of the first week I was in desperate need of a hugs and snuggles from all of my babies.  Bert and my mom were champions.  They basically did everything for everybody that first week as I tried to rest and recover from the flu and delivery (flu recovery being way worse).  I never got more than 2 hours of sleep at a time because she would be ready to nurse again, but I was thankful for those two hour stretches.  For the first week Bert and Mom split the night in half....Mom took her from 9 - 2 at night and then Bert took the 2am -7am shift.  I would come out and nurse her every few hours, but they were determined that I wouldn't do anything other than that as we all wanted me to get well as quickly as possible.  

I ended up having a little trouble with my milk supply and we had to supplement with formula for 2 days before my milk started coming in.  The lactation consultants felt like it was definitely due to me having the flu.  I hadn't had any trouble with my milk coming in with Hannah and Claire and it's supposed to come in faster the more babies you have.  I also didn't have much of an appetite the first week or so after I had Abby.  I did eat and drink, but not because I was hungry. I also probably wasn't drinking enough because I was wearing a mask so much of the day.  Anyway, I was sooooo thankful when my milk finally came in by the end of the first week.  It was SO important to me to be able to nurse her.  

I took this picture one night at 3am.  Abby was about 3 days old.  He was feeding her a bottle to supplement after I had just nursed her.  He's such an amazing husband and Daddy and I'm thankful he's mine.  

These yummy cake pops were a special request that I had and Mimi was happy to oblige. 

The weather was absolutely beautiful those first couple weeks after Abby was born.  One afternoon Bert got home from work and told the big girls they were going to get to help him plant some seeds for this summer's garden.  He wanted to plant them early so that they would get a head start on growing.  He'll plant them in the ground in a few weeks.  The girls were soooo excited about this project.  

My mom stayed with us about 2 weeks after we had Abby, which is a little longer than she usually stays after we have a baby, but with me getting over being sick she decided I needed a little extra help and she was right.  We were SO thankful to have her.  She cooked, cleaned, did laundry, played with the big girls outside, did car-line pick ups, held Abby into the wee hours of the morning, and gave me pep talks when I was discouraged and down about not being able to hold and snuggle my baby.  My mom is one of my very best friends and one of my favorite people to hang out with.  

Mimi got lots of Abby snuggles.  

My brother came over to Greenville to meet his newest niece on Friday (Abby was 5 days old).  It looks like she saying "enough with the pictures" in the picture below. 

Snuggled up with Uncle Stan taking a nap.  

Papa came over on Abby's 1-week birthday.  He was so glad to be able to see her in person (FaceTime is nice, but not the same).  He was much better, but not 100% so he wore his mask while holding her.  They stayed snuggled up like this for most of the afternoon.  Holding babies and letting them sleep on his chest just happens to be his specialty.  

Our big girls were super excited to see Papa too!!  

Emily and Hannah love playing with (attacking) Uncle Stan.  

On Monday evening (Abby was just over a week old) we had a CRAZY HUGE hail storm.  Everyone that we talked to that got hit with the worst of it said they had never seen or heard anything like it in their life.  Even our 90 year old neighbor said he had never seen a hail storm like we had that evening.  It was unbelievably loud and lasted almost 10 minutes.  Now we have to get estimates on getting our cars and roof fixed....booo.  

This was the first time I had held Abby with my mask off so we had to get a picture of it.  She was just over a week old.  Just checking each other out.

When she was about a week and a half, we had some newborn pictures taken of Abby.  Mom was there to wrangle (and I do mean wrangle) Claire while our photographer was taking pictures of Bert and me with Abby.  

Claire, once again, wasn't totally in the mood to be told where to sit and to smile for each picture.  2 year olds for ya.  I *think* Libby was able to get some good ones though.  Look at this cute smile that we got with our phone camera though?!  Sweet thing.  

We only had to supplement with formula for 2 days.  When we took Abby to the doctor at 3 days old she had dropped to 8lbs 3oz (she was 8lbs 11oz at birth).  They expect them to lose weight and want them to be back to birth weight by 2 weeks. I took her back for a checkup at 10 days old and she was 9lbs even!  Woohoo...go Abby!  

I have a picture of all 4 of our girls on this blanket during that first week after they were born.  My great-grandmother (my mom's grandmother) crocheted the flowers, and my mom and her sister found them in a box in my grandmother's closet after she passed away a few months before Emily was born. They had it made into a blanket just before I had Emily.  It's such a beautiful, special blanket to our family.

Aunt Katherine and Ressie drove to Greenville to meet Abby one evening.  Aunt Katherine loved getting snuggles and Ressie loved playing with her cousins! 

Abby was 2 weeks old in the picture below.  Cutie! 

Abby, I am especially loving being able to kiss your face and snuggle with you now that I am well.  You're a joy and an incredible blessing to our family!  We love you!