Mack Giggles

Phone pictures

Just thought I'd post some pictures I have taken on my phone recently! These are in no particular order.

This is Mack's 3rd attempt at vegetables/fruits. As you can see, he wears more than he eats. He has decided to refuse most solid food we give him. We have tried sweet potatoes, bananas, green beans and prunes. He's got major eating issues- (another day, another blog post)

Ellie at her class Valentine's Party

Emma at her class Valentine's party

I snapped this of Emma the night of the Daddy/Daughter dance. She was so excited about getting all dolled up to go out with her Daddy

The 3 stooges

 

Poor Freddie will take attention however he can get it!

Aunt Pat

Dear Death,

You've made your presence known enough around here, now please leave. My heart can't take it anymore! The only solace I have is knowing that you really don't exist. Because of the Cross, my family members are still alive, but with Jesus. They aren't in this world anymore, but I know they are singing the Lord's praises in heaven. 

I can't hear my sweet Aunt's voice anymore giving me advice, telling me about her community and church activities, or the latest of family drama. I don't have my godmother anymore to send me a birthday card or call me to check in on me and my babies. She's not here, you took her, but you still didn't win because I know she's in heaven looking down on us now. Most importantly, she isn't suffering anymore.  Yes, death, your friend cancer that you bring on to take our loved ones away, did break down her physical body, but her spirit has just moved on to  another place. She is in a place where there is no pain, no swelling, no nausea, no exhaustion, and none of the other terrible symptoms that come along with that disease.

Death, don't come back for a while. We've lost 3 family members in 6 months. We don't need anymore hints of you hanging around. We need some time to heal. 

Thanks, 
Ashley 

John 6:55-59

In loving memory of Patricia C. Whitley 5/4/1939 - 2/25/2014

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Half Birthday!

Mack is 6 months old today. I feel like I just did the 5 month post. He hasn't had his 6 month check up at the pediatrician's office yet, so I will post those stats later. As far as what he's up to, he is very soon going to be VERY busy.  He is scooting and rolling and is almost crawling. He can certainly get to where he needs to go without hesitation now. He sits unsupported, he is reaching for us which is really sweet, and he is slowly easing in to the 2 nap a day schedule. (I think mainly because he has no choice with his sisters' schedules.) He is taking his bath with his big sisters now, which makes it easier for us to manage bath time now. Having them all together at once speeds up the bathtime/bedtime process (which still takes us about 45 minutes on a good night.) Mack sleeps through the night now, waking up 3-4 times a night for paci, but he is starting to figure out how to get paci in his mouth by himself:) At least I don't have those 30-45 minute feedings anymore during the night. He is a sweet little boy and loves attention from others (like Ellie always has!) We start solids tonight, so get ready for gross food spitting out pictures to come! Mack is proving not to be a foodie so far. His gag reflex makes feeding times so difficult. Worth and I do rock, paper, scissors to determine who will feed him rice cereal because we dread it so much! So sad, I know, but hopefully he'll figure this eating thing out and be a better eater soon!

Boogie Shoes

Father/Daughter Dance 2014

Worth headed out tonight for a special date with 2 of his 3 girls. The annual Father/Daughter dance is tonight. I had to get a few pictures before they left, and I can't wait to hear how it went when they get home. Worth is taking them to dinner, to the dance, then out for ice cream. Hopefully there will be no potty accidents from Emma and Ellie won't fall and break anything showing off her dance moves.

Mack's Baptism and 5 months!

I can't believe this sweet little boy is 5 months old. I still can't believe I have a son. It still feels weird to say that after talking about my "daughters" for the past 5 years.

Mack was baptized this past Sunday and put on a show for everyone. He and the girls were uncharacteristically well behaved during church. So much so, that several church members commented on what wonderful children I had. (At least I know my children can put on a performance when it's needed!) HA! We had the baptism during early church (the normal church service we attend) and returned to our house for a small brunch. It was lots of fun, and it was good to be with family. For more pictures from the baptism click here.

At 5 months, Mack is still not sleeping through the night. Ugh! He usually wakes for 1 feeding around 3 or 4 am. Sometimes he will wake up at 12 or 1 am and that is better because it allows me to get through a few more sleep cycles before I have to wake up at 5:45am. He is doing a little better with the rice cereal. I've been doing as much stimulation to that gag reflex as I can. (paci's, bottles, spoons, etc) He can sit unsupported for about 30-45 sec. He can certainly belly crawl to what he wants to get to. It won't be long until he figures out how to get up on his hands and knees and get there much faster. He pulls his sisters' hair ALOT. They usually scream and tattle on him, and I remind them not to put it in his face and he won't pull it. This is a conversation that I plan on having with them over and over again for the next several years. Mack's laugh is infectious. There is nothing in this world that can make you smile like hearing a baby belly laugh.

The sweet cake

The Bowers men - 4 generations

Sorry for our scary faces in this picture. I think we were all a little nervous about standing in front of the church.

Mack getting Baptized

Our sweet boy!

5 months and growing so fast!

Mack + Rice Cereal = FAIL

Well, I guess the pictures speak for themselves. Mack, surprisingly, was NOT a fan of rice cereal. He has had a hyperactive gag reflex since birth, but I thought he would be ok since he takes a bottle occasionally and a pacifier finally (just over the last 2 weeks.) We kind of started the cereal early anyway. According to the pediatrician you aren't supposed to start rice cereal until the baby is 5-6 months old. I started at 4 months with the girls, so I didn't see the harm in starting early with Mack. I guess he showed me who was boss. We'll try this again in a couple of weeks. Now, I have to work hard on that gag reflex. Mack is DEFINITELY a high maintenance child!

First Bite

"What the heck did you just give me?"

Biggest gag/burp that has ever come out of a 4 month old

Spitting it all up :(

Another try

"MOM!"

"not going to do this!"

Done.

Mack's 4 month appointment

Mack had his 4 month appointment yesterday. He weighed in at 13 lb 2 oz. (10th percentile) and is 24 and 3/4in long (65th percentile) the doctor said he's really long for his weight. I'm sure it will all even out at some point! He will definitely not be a big kid. 

Things he's up to: attempting to sit unsupported, his torticollis is MUCH better, he only has slight tightness in his SCM. He laughs and coos a lot, he rolls around on the floor and gets very frustrated when he can't move forward, so I'm anticipating an early crawler. He still gets up for 1 feeding a night. I'm starting rice cereal soon so I will post pictures of that when it happens. I have no doubt that he will be a fan! 

Basketball!

Worth asked for a basketball goal for Christmas, so I got him one. He put it together this weekend and it was a nice afternoon today so we got outside and played some basketball with the girls. We also took Aspen outside for the first time since Santa brought him. He wasn't a fan of the outside yet. We'll have to work on that because I'm already over the litter box situation!

Aspen preferred Worth's lap over the outdoors

If you could only hear Ellie in this picture. She thought squealing was required every time she made a basket.

Emma, a cautious player

Freddie wanted to make sure Aspen didn't find all of his secret sleeping spots

Mack chewing on his foot/sock

Bless her, she shoots like her mama (not great!)

Worth still living the dream. Ellie trying to duck and cover

I see a cheerleader in our future

Emma posing it up with little brother. Don't ask about their clothing. They pick their own play clothes out.

Emma lost interest very easily. Ellie was a ball hog.