Bathtime!

Our favorite time of the day... Livi loves bathtime! She never cries, and if crying when we put her in the tub, she immediately quiets down. I think we might have another little fish on our hands. She'll sit there and coo and smile and giggle the whole time - I pour water over her and she squirms and squirms, like she is saying, "More Mommy, more!" We've sat in the tub so long that at times, my feet are pruned up and my legs are asleep... but Livi loves bathtime!

Wildseed Farms

What a great weekend! Carrie, Clement, Kylie and Brianna came to visit us this past weekend, and we had such a good time! Here is a pic of the kids at Wildseed Farms. Kylie loved the Butterfly Haus (I think Brianna did too)! We also stopped at Lukenbachon our way home Saturday and watched the Spurs stink it up on Sunday afternoon. The girls LOVED Bindi - and she loved them too, to a certain extent. I don't think she has gotten that much attention in a long time... I wish I would have gotten a picture of the girls wearing her out! :) Thanks Sofkas for visiting - can't wait to do it again!

Photogenic Livi

Getting a 1 month old baby to pose for pictures is easier said than done. We tried for two days solid to get some clear shots without her crying, sleeping, or moving. I used up my entire SD card, erased half of them and filled it up again. :) Finally - we came out with a few nice pictures and this is one of my favorite.

Yea for Emma & Robbie!

They both passed their TAKS tests! We learned a few weeks ago that they barely missed getting 'Commended' on their Reading TAKS, and today we heard they both passed the Math TAKS!

We are so proud of them - keep up the good work!

Go Spurs Go Go Livi Go

We've had two great nights in a row! Here's hoping that continues ::crossing fingers:: Livi has slept most of the night, waking up at 4:30 one night and 5:30 the next!

It's a beautiful day here in Blanco. I'm waiting for Livi Licia to wake up so I can feed her then hop on the lawn mower... by October, I won't be so excited to mow, I'm sure - but at this point I'm ready for hot weather and some yard work. Robbie is excited helping me plan what to plant in the flower beds, and my fingers are itching to get busy.

1 Month Old

Yea! Livi is one month old! This has been a roller coaster of emotions for our whole family... first anticipation, nervousness, elation, frustration, contentment and sheer bliss. We are so happy - it's almost unbelievable. Livi had her one month check-up - she weighs 9.16 lbs., and is 21.75" long. She is in the 49th percentile for weight and the 70th percentile for heigth.

I put her in a 12 mos. onesie and plan on taking a picture of her in it every month until her first birthday. That way we can track how much she grows into the onesie. It took quite a few pictures to get one without her screaming, moving, covering the sign or sleeping. :)

Welcome Home Clement!

After 5 long years, duties in Florida, Conneticut, South Carolina and Washington St., Clement and Carrie are officially home to Texas at last! Clement made it home Sunday evening to cheers from his family. We are all so proud of his accomplishments and service and also proud of his, Carrie's, Kylie's and Brianna's sacrifice.

Welcome home Sofkas!

Texas Bluebonnets

Here is our traditional pic in the bluebonnets. This year it didn't go as smoothly as usual. The wind was blowing really hard and Livi was NOT happy! The wildflowers were a little low in numbers as well - we had a hard time finding a patch big enough for all of us! We didn't have any flowers for Easter this year - hopefully next year will be better.

Livi and Aaron

Finally! Livi got to meet her "little" cousin Aaron John. Aaron was born two days after Livi - here is a pic of her letting him know how the world goes. We had such a wonderful weekend! It was so good to see all of the family... Nane finally has all of her chicks in a row.

My babies...

Here is a cute pic of my babies all together!

Emma and Robbie are doing so great with Livi. Emma (who has always been a motherly type) is loving every minute of this. She feeds, burps, changes, rocks and even changes Livi's diapers - sometimes. She checks damage control first :)

Robbie is also enjoying having a little sister. When I need him to watch her for a few minutes, he'll lay on the ground next to her, hold her hand and sing or hum songs to her. Livi loves it! He won't get near her dirty diapers, but I guess we can't have it all. :)

We're sending out our best wishes to Darla today - she had hip replacement on Monday. We hope her recovery is going well!

3 Weeks Along

Livi is 3 weeks old! Time has flown already - and she seems to have grown and changed so much! She still looks like her Daddy, but I'm holding out some hope that I had something to do with this. :)

Her reflux is still going strong. It's really hard sometimes - listening to her cry and scream and feeling so helpless. I wish I could do more. Some days are better than others...

Livi really is such a good girl - unless she is hungry or cramping, she doesn't cry at all. She is very alert. She loves to look around... she has such bright beautiful eyes.

Robbie loves Livi

After being VERY hesitant about holding his new sister, I finally coaxed Robbie into posing for a picture. Now he likes to lurk near Livi all the time... he never comes right out and requests to hold her, but he sure does volunteer to help :) Me thinks he loves his sister!

MaMaw and PaPaw visit

Jeff's parents drove down from Texarkana for the weekend to see their newest grandaughter. They spent the day with us on Saturday, visiting and cooing over Livi. :) Jamie and Randy came later in the day, and we had a nice time catching up. Sarah and Brett seemed to give their seal of approval for their new cousin.

4th Place

Emma did very well at the district meet Thursday in Comfort! She ended up with 4th place in the discus - although it was very close between the finalists. She swears they didn't mark her last throw correctly :), but she did very well all the same. She was also in the running for shotput - she had 5th place locked up until the last two girls threw. It knocked her down to 7th. We're very proud of her!

She is very happy track is over now - so is her dad! Although he still has to make a few meets, the everyday grind is starting to slow down. It'll be nice to have everyone home before 6 pm now. :)

Up all night!

Livi's reflux is doing a bit better... we've learned not to let her cry too much and the warning signs of upcoming spit. :)
She woke last night at 2:55 am and didn't go back to sleep until 5:45am. I knew she'd need a bottle upon waking, so I went to the kitchen to make one. By the time I finished and had everything in it's place, it was a little after 6am. I tumbled into bed, layed there for about 2 mins... and you guessed it - she was up and ready to feed again.
Sleep was no longer an option for me - I had a meeting at school at 9am, so I fed Livi and began to get us ready for the day.
It's actually quite funny - it now takes me what seems like several hours to get ready to go anywhere. Coming from the woman who would throw on some flip-flops and head out the door - this is a huge change!
She finally went down for a nap about 30 mins ago... I ate a quick lunch, am typing this blog and will be heading to take a nap myself.
Uh-Oh - she's grunting... the nap might have to wait! :)

Starting Today

Hello All!

I've started a blog spot today so everyone can keep in touch and stay updated on our family.

Livi is two weeks old and doing well considering her reflux. Doc gave her some meds to help control the problem, but our biggest challenge will be to keep her from getting too upset and have her stomach cramp up. She is such a beautiful little girl - and very good! She only cries when her tummy hurts her (or she is hungry), but other than that, she is calm and peaceful. Emma and Jeff are doing their best to try and spoil her :)

Emma is in track right now. Her district meet is on Thursday and she has been working hard on her discus. She is also in shot put, but she's not as in to that sport as the other... Emma is in her last stretch of Junior High. She'll be in High School next year (eek!), and will be on Jeff's campus. He is REALLY looking forward to that - she, not so much! :)

Robbie is "out of season" right now. He decided to forego Little League this year (and Mom and Dad were very happy!), so his schedule is slow at this point. He'll be in Junior High next year - and he'll be on my campus - so that should prove fun!

Emma and Robbie did very well on their Reading TAKS test this year. Both missed commended' by two questions - Jeff and I are very proud! The Math TAKS is next week, so everyone, please keep these two in your prayers.

I'll be uploading some photos soon, so keep a lookout for those!