HAPPY 2ND BIRTHDAY BRIDGETTE

Well, 2 years ago 2 was the most exciting, scary, and wonderful day of my life at that point. Getting married was wonderful and exciting, but not scary to me. Having a darling daughter was all of those things and more. I was very nervous and had a difficult delivery (but a wonderful pregnancy). But when I FINALLY got to hold our sweet baby...there are no words about the level of love that I was experiencing. It was soooo good. I cried, I laughed. I was swelling inside. Travis and I felt like our life had just been completed and our love increased amazingly.
Bridgette- we are so happy and our lives are so much better now that you are here. We love you with all our hearts. Your smile and laugh makes our day. THe sweet and funny things you say are so amusing and very often way too smart! I look back over these last two years and I just wish you would have the capacity to remember some of the sweet moments. When I was nursing you late at night and it was just the two of us. Quiet and so happy. When you took your first steps. When you truly became a daddy's girl (and need to help him fix things all over the house). Reading "booka-bookas" at night. When you saw your baby brother for the first time and commented on his "little toes, little eyes, little nose" and told him you loved him. As I am writing this I am tearing up. So many good times. When you were learning to talk you would wake up and say all of your words "puppy, milk, daddy, mommy!" in no particular order haha. The first time we took you to Disney and you just were amazed by the animation. There are so many moments I cannot begin to name them all. I am just so proud of you and who you are becoming.

Ok a little about your party- you had a blast! It was Dora themed (shocking) and you LOVED the cake :). There was a singing Dora balloon that sang Happy Birthday when you touched it and that became a very fun activity for you. The amount of gifts you received was insane haha, and you have played with them all so far! You got a red trike that you have climbed all over and played with. Perhaps the most exciting part though was the bounce house we bought for the basement. you and your friend Carys Bible jumped and laughed for a very long time. You were worn out after haha.
I loved watching you :). You would jump so excitedly, then run and dive face first off the slide and scream "slide!!". Too funny. You spent the night with your Mimi Kay and PaPaw Billy. You had a wonderful time, then the next AM you went to your Grandad and Grandmoms

Aunt Momo was your first birthday phone call today. :)

smiling pics

Mason is smiling :)

SO MUCH to report!! First off, Mason slept 6 hours straight last night, praise the good Lord! I am so happy and hope this continues! His spitting up has significantly decreased.
He is gaining weight and growing so much. He is now wearing 3-6 month clothes and he is 2 months old! WOW.
He has started smiling and he smiles most at Bridgette! He just loves to sit and stare at her. She plays very well with him. For some reason she wants to touch his eyes. Whew.
Mason and Bridgette have very active social lives. :) We have several play dates and always have family coming in and out of the house. The kids just love it! Bridgette is still doing great at preschool. They say she is really good.
We went to the zoo this week with Mimi NIna, Daddy, and of course the three of us. WE had a blast! I will post pics as soon as I get them off the camera. the cutest thing Bridgette said was, "Where's the 'cracker-dile'?" (Crocodile). Too cute. Also in the gift shop, she bypassed all the cuddly bears, elephants, and went straight for the alligators and snakes. Ah well.

Bridgette's antics:
She has a hole in the back of one of her chairs and today she got a large sticker and covered it, then came to get me and said "Look! I fixed it!!" She loves to help her daddy "fix" things around the house. I think it's so cool that she understands that covering the hole "fixed" it. :)
This one is a little late, but really cute. Last week we went to Cracker Barrel to have brunch with Daddy and she couldn't decide what she wanted to eat. Everything we asked her she said no to. Her father eventually said "Do you want a pinch on the hiney?" (A popular phrase in our house) and she laughed. The waiter came and we looked at Bridgette and said what do you want? She looked very serious at the waiter and said, "Macaroni and Cheese, and a pinch on the hiney." Classic.
Pics to follow!!

Dollywood with Mimi and Pawpaw Marley

Had a blast at Dollywood this past week! The weather was perfect! We took the kids to play and to show Mimi Nina and Pawpaw Marshall Dollywood--they all loved it! Bridgette loves the playgrounds!
We also had a little photoshoot before church. Lovely children :)

Mason 6 weeks old

Mason had his 1 month doctor check up yesterday and we received some surprising stats :) He is now 11 pounds 9 ounces and 22.5 inches long. That is 3 pounds and 2 inches longer than when he was born. HA!! He is a GOOD eater. And to think i was concerned...
He is sleeping pretty well now. Gives me 3-4 hour stretches at night. SOMETIMES I can get him to nap the same time Bridgette does. If I am holding him, he will sleep, but I do not sleep very well. I love to co sleep, but I love it when they are old enough to move around a bit. Up until then, I do not sleep well, due to awareness of them in the bed or in the co-sleeper. He does have some reflux and stays congested in his nose from it. So, he sleeps with his head elevated and this helps (in a nap nanny). He also has blocked tear ducts and his eyes are gooped up every morning. I hate it. We are giving him drops now. But he is such a sweet baby. just looks around and focuses so much. He still rolls over when he is finished with tummy time. I just cannot believe he can do that. Of course, he is the size of a normal 3 month old hahahaha.
In other news Bridgette is so funny all the time. Her latest: I sneezed, she said "Bless you, Gesundheit." Too funny. She loves her brother. Is always reminding me not to forget him haha.She has a precious little birthday coming up...I cannot believe it. 2 years already. She is such a joy. God has blessed us with the best babies on earth. Travis and I are so incredibly happy.

Milka Milka

Lately Bridgette has fully embraced her southern accent and has started asking for her milk in said fashion, "Meeeeeeelka, Meeeeeeelka". For those of you who don't know, this is a long drawn out "i" that SOME southerners adopt. I have been absolutely shocked by her sudden twang, since Travis and I do NOT say our "i"'s like that. I have been accused of holding my "i" out longer, but never turning it into an "e". Oh well. I ignore it and go on, but WOW. :)
Mason is getting so big. He is nursing very often during the day, but thankfully has given me some 3 and 4 hour stretches at night. I am VERY tired during the day though. :) He made his inaugural trip to Walmart yesterday and invariably I had to ask several people to not touch him. Seriously folks, young babies do not need strange hands touching them. Ah well. Tomorrow is his 1 month check up (2 weeks late due to his busy doctors schedule). Ill update you on his stats then!
Here are some photos from Malerie's shower.

Updated pics and Bridgette goes to school :)

I am putting some pics of Mason's first bath a little late. I forgot that I had not downloaded them. This was about 2 1/2 weeks old when his cord finally fell off. Now he gets to sit in a bath chair with his big sister for baths. Bridgette LOVES it! :)

Bridgette went to her preschool for the first time this year on Tuesday. She was so excited to go to "school". This is actually a Mother's Day Out program from 830-2 at our church, but they do some school activities and encourage play. She really enjoys it and needs the socialization. Things I love about MDO: I get some one on one time with Mason, nap whenever he naps (aahhh), get to go to the grocery, etc. Things I HATE about MDO: Bridgette inevitably gets sick over and over again during the year. Ok, I know, kids that go to daycare have the same issue and I know it is good for her. Mommy just hates it, ok? She had a great day at school. The teachers remarked about her abnormally large vocabulary, and the fact that she was extremely unhappy that she could not carry around her "milka-milka" or take it with her to nap. I didn't realize this (because she could in the infant class), but she made it hehe. It was so sweet when I picked her up, she yelled MOMMY and came running. Then she said "Where's the brother??", and I pointed to his car seat. She gave us both HUGE hugs and kisses, then proceeded to tell EVERYONE bye bye by name hahahaha.

Something I keep meaning to write about is that Bridgette looooves her Grandmom and Grandad Sparks 9technically great grandparents). They live on a farm with horses, Classy and John Boy, and "moo-moos". Bri loves to go to their house, ride the golf cart with them and pat-pat Classy. Its so sweet. So, she has a Little People Barn with animals and 2 little people who she has affectionately dubbed Grandmom and Grandad. Also every toy horse she has is named Classy. Well she always wants to play with them and even take them with her to nap. When they actually come over to visit, Bridgette runs to them, asks them about the horses and cows, and just generally loves paying with them. :)
Now of course she loves all her grandparents, but this is just such a cute imagination and association she has with them.
Mimi Nina and PawPaw Marshall started a tradition of taking Bridgette to breakfast on Saturday mornings. They went to IHOP and she didn't eat much, haha but enjoyed herself!
Travis and PawPaw Marshall built anamazing pergola on the back deck just in time for Aunt Mal-mal and uncle Robert's engagement party on Sunday! Lots of exciting things coming up....stay tuned! ;)