Well, it's about that time again. We're having a great time here with Miss Landry. Avery has definitely taken to her and is settling in to her new role as big sister. She's quite proud of "the baby" (Avery still can't say Landry) and is forever wanting to look at her. I finally bought her a stool at Walmart so she could look up over the playpen at her leisure... that was definitely a hit.

I can't believe she is almost a month old already! She's a great baby and pretty low maintenance. The only thing she does that isn't that cute is grunt. Don't get me wrong, the grunting in and of itself isn't that bad, it's her choice of timing... you know, I think I'll grunt loudly for a couple of hours starting about 3am. It's really hard to sleep through. I'm not complaining though, I'd rather deal with that than a screaming child.

I just liked this picture After her first bath
We went and spent some time out at the Woodall's with all of the younger kids at church. It was so fun for Avery. She got to roam around, ride horses and eat cheetos all evening. Could it have been better?
Roselyn came over to play in the water the other day. Notice my child getting getting progressively more exposed as time goes on... that happens a lot when we go outside.
Roselyn helping Avery with her stew in the backyard. This has been a continual project of Avery's since early this spring.

Helping out with the landscaping.I love her hat! Thanks Aunt Tara! Doodle came over to see Landry and spoil Avery just a little. Avery has really taken to "DooDoo" and wanted to Doodle to go with her everywhere, not Mommy. Nice! I don't think Avery's gonna be happy when the new little Spencer boy arrives and Doodle has her hands full with her own baby.
One of Avery's favorite activities is feeding the birds. It gets a little messy at times.
She saw a few birds flying over and quickly picked up some seed and offered it to them.

My little helper
Does everyone have a picture like this as a kid?Avery always wants to pick up Landry and hold her. Obviously this occurs only when closely monitored. Aside from the fact that Avery would probably drop her, there is also the likelihood of an eye being scratched or an ear being tugged at.
So proud
We have recently made another big transition. We started finding Avery like this after her naps, with everything thrown over the rails and often her little leg hiked up on the side rail.

I had been working on her big girl room for a little while but had decided to give her a little more adjustment time before changing rooms. Apparently she didn't need it because one night she just asked to go night-night in her new room... and did! She didn't wake up once and has loved it. Here she is on her first night in her new room.
Great Aunt Gwen Ann sent some goodies over the other day and Avery loved them. Here she is showing off her goods. What a look! Thanks Gwen Ann!
Landry has loved the swing. She'll sit in there and drift off to sleep. The only problem is......the swing is at toddler level and Avery loves to give kisses. Landry's deep sleeps are often interrupted in this manner.
We got to travel down to Huntsville for Jeff and Robin's wedding last weekend. The trip itself was a little rough, but it was more than worth it. Avery got a little treat from her PawPaw at the reception. PawPaw is obviously not in charge of laundry! :) Miss Landry Lucille was looking pretty cute for the wedding too. Thanks Aunt P for the dress!On our way back, we stayed with Nanny Lou to break up the trip. We had a wonderful visit and got to go to church with her Sunday morning. We always love visiting her... she spoils everyone who walks through her door! Here she is doting on her namesake. Can you tell that Landry takes a little after her... I mean, Landry obviously didn't get her dark skin or hair from me!That is one proud great-grandmother.

I think Avery especially loved our stop at Nanny Lou's. Nanny let Avery drag her around all over the place and Avery loved the attention. Here she is riding on a decorative cow. And here she is losing her britches! :)
And I'll end my megapost with some pictures from Monday. Helping Mommy plant seeds.Avery is definitely a lover of water... stirring, bathing, playing, splashing, and any mud that comes with it is bonus.Here she is giving Cue a bath.

Bye for now.

A few videos

There is a flock of Canadian geese that nest nearby and Avery loves to hear them flying by. We were out in the swing one day and heard several of them honking away. I thought it was too cute not to video.

I also loved this video of Avery at the hospital when she is getting her first good look at Landry. She decided a thorough inspection was necessary before deciding Landry was an okay sister.

We're home!

Well, we are at home and settling in with our new family of four! It has been challenging at times already, but I am loving every minute of it. I have to admit it seems unreal that we have two little girls! I love the fact that they are so close in age and will share so much.

I loved my experience at the hospital! The nurses were wonderful, which was good since Landry wanted out fast and the nurses ended up delivering her. Clay was an incredible support through the whole labor. AND, icing on the cake, my sister Tara and my mother-in-law Gay got to be there with us during the delivery. The only thing I wish I could change was for my mom to be there too, but speed was the name of the game here and my parents just missed it after a 3 hour drive from their farm. Don't worry mom, we'll have more! Here we are right after Landry's delivery (Avery was at home sleeping... it was 2:30 in the morning).I'm not sure Clay ever thought he would have 2 little girls back to back. It doesn't seem to matter much by the look of this picture.Here is Avery checking her new little sister out. She really had no clue what was going on.Cousin Kanyon and Aunt P came to visit too! Kanyon was definitely showing off all his tricks for his new cousin while he was there. Kellan also came to visit us... if you'll notice though, he is much more focused on the boat on TV than on Landry.Already a great little suckler!The 2 grandmothers helped Avery acclimate to Landry when we came home. It has definitely been an adjustment for her. The first full day Avery had with Landry was a little scary... it consisted of multiple temper tantrums, several toys thrown at Landry and I, and a couple of nasty looks that came my way. Thankfully, my mom was there to play interference and remind me that Avery did love me and would eventually love Landry too! :)

I'm glad to say after a few days things are already looking a lot better as you can tell from the look on Avery's face. Here she is the day we brought her home. It is just incredible how God gives you the capacity to love your children so much... no matter how many you have. I love the dark hair, almost black. I think it's very appropriate since Clay's grandmother, Lucille and Landry Lucille's namesake, has dark hair as well.This may be too much for some of you, but I thought it was hilarious when Avery came sauntering up to me and Landry while I was nursing, found my nursing pad and placed it on Landry's head declaring, "Hat!"Here is another great picture of Landry. I have a few more like this that I love, but they're going on the birth announcements so it's no fun posting them here first. And we'll end with a couple random pictures. Avery with Pawpaw and her catch of fish.Parker and Avery enjoying a wagon ride with Nana.I'm going to go take a nap now while both my girls are sleeping, but I have a few videos I need to post so those will come soon.

BABY SPENCER IS HERE!!!

Landry Lucille Spencer

8 pounds 6 oz.

21 1/2 in.

2:32 a.m.

It's Aunt Jaymie here, filling you in on the greatest news of the day! Avery has a little sister! I gave the stats above, but will add that Maurine was a total CHAMP (no meds) and so was Landry. She is a pretty fast little girl...she was about 15 minutes faster than the doctor. A little info on the name. Lucille is mine and Clay's Grandmother's name. She carries a very special name now. Maurine is doing great resting and trying to nap a little since as you saw by the time of birth, they didn't get much sleep last night. I'm passing the torch now to Rachel to add some great pictures.

Here are the proud parents:

And here are the proud grandmothers. First, Nana:
Then Gay Gay: A few sweet close-ups:


Now the grandpas. Here's Larry - I don't know his grandpa name: Here's Pawpaw:
And then the aunts and uncles got a turn. Here she is with Uncle Clint
Aunt Tara
Aunt Rachel
More pictures to come...

Easter eggs and turtle hunting

I know, it's shocking and makes you question everything you thought was true! If I posted this week already, you should be able to be certain that it would be at least another month before I posted again. All I can say is weird things happen at the end of a pregnancy and we'll just blame it on that.
I got the rest of my pictures from the Easter egg hunt. Yay! All the Paris cousins came over to help Avery find the hidden eggs. It was a little chilly and past nap time so we kept it short and sweet. We had a great time though.

To my surprise, Avery got the hang of hunting pretty well. Notice she wouldn't let me take her new bottle of bubbles out of her basket for the hunt.

After she did her share of hunting she went to one of her favorite spots in the backyard. It's a tiny, circular flowerbed that is lined with wide bricks. She loves to walk around and around the bed on those bricks. I'm not really sure why that's fun, but I'm not going to question her.
Family picture... I wonder if that will be the last one of our family of only 3?
We tried to get the older kids on the bench for a picture. Here are Roselyn and Avery waiting on Kellan to come. I'm not sure Rosie wants Avery holding her hand here. There was no way all three were going to sit nicely and look at the camera... it's kind of sweet though don't you think? And, as a side note, Avery looks like her Daddy, but she sits like her Mommy did when she was younger. I can't get her to sit normal for anything. I'm pretty sure that gene goes all the way back to my Little Grandma, Avery's great-great grandmother. So, Little Grandma, if you're reading this, this picture is for you! :)
Avery has also had a big week with turtles. I'm not sure what the deal is... I feel like it's a little early for egg-laying, but I keep looking up and seeing turtles busting it from our pond to the edge of the woods in our yard. I, of course, get excited and have to go catch them and let Avery play for a little while. She gets so tickled at them when they move and always wants to pet them. This first one is a red eared slider (I guess that's not really of interest to most people)...Showing Daddy her catch... we kept it until he got home from work so she could show it off.This next one is a snapping turtle so no petting was allowed.Clay did teach Avery how to poke it with a stick though and get it to snap a little at it. You can tell from her face, she was delighted!I'm sure the turtle appreciated this.

Well, that's all for me for a little while. Hopefully next time you'll see the newest addition to the Spencer family!

Tiny Dancers

Thought you might enjoy a little taste of the Dancing Queen and her rhythmic cousin.