Baby Piper Arrives!

Piper Adelle Hixon

The Hixson's are a family that we are so blessed to have in our lives. Brent and Clay have a small real-estate business together and Kelly and I are involved in a few things at church together. We have been praying for baby Piper for a long nine months now and we finally got to meet her today! She was born late last night. Congratulations guys on another beautiful baby girl! We love you!

Campell the big sister and Piper

Happy Family

      The Girls

Piper

Open Gym

Every Friday I try and take the kids to open gym at a local gymnastics gym here in town. They love it! They have so much fun running down the tumble track and jumping in the pit! Ava loves the trampoline and dressing up in the dance recital costumes. It has been a great way to spend our Friday mornings especially during the winter months. Here are a few pictures I took this morning... Usually our mornings at the gym are very successful ,this however was before we had to leave because J.Riley hit me and continued to scream "No Mommy!" at me...LOVELY!

Ava on the tumble track

Such a pretty fairy!

Swinging on the parallel bars
               In the pit

Out of the mouths of Babes

At the park on Monday

Austin (another 3 year old) to J.Riley "Can you talk?"

J.Riley: " Yea, I can talk Spanish"

Austin: " I can too"

J.Riley: " Yea, but girls can't talk Spanish"

The other night J.Riley is standing in the shower..yes he likes to play in the shower.

He is standing with his legs spread apart.

J.Riley " Hey Mom look, I am stretching my butt."

At the picnic table while Playing or should I say eating playdough.

Mom: "J.Riley please do not eat the play dough."

J.Riley: " I am just smelling it Mom."

a few seconds later..while he is eating the play dough again!

Mom: " J.Riley does Mrs. Lisa let you eat play dough at school?"

J.Riley: "Yes, she doesn't get mad at me, but Tyler and Emily tell on me."

Sick Day

Well, it never fails!! This weekend is suppose to be full of warm weather and sunshine and one of my kids is sick! NEVER FAILS! UGH!! I had a Kelly's Kids party last night which was a big success! Lots of fun shopping with friends. Ava woke up at about 10 o'clock which is not normal and sure enough was running a fever. So we are quarantined for the day. This is always a challenge. Trying to keep J.Riley busy without throwing him in front of the TV and holding my baby girl ALL day because all she wanted was her mommy, paci and lovie. This too shall pass! Thank you Lord for giving me the strength to get through this day!

A few things we did to stay busy. We broke out the sand and water table! Thank you great Aunt Cindy and Great Grammy! He played in it for a good hour!! You brought sanity to my day and lots of fun to him!

    We made many paintings

     My sick baby girl

Pitiful

Date Night

As a couple Brent and I have decided that a date night once a week for us is vital. Having a date night in the middle of the week is an ideal way for us to connect when it seems we are running in opposite directions all week. We have a set date night every Wednesday night, because going on a date requires special forces planning around our house. We decided on a set night because you never know when something is going to come up and it always seems to be the night you have planned some quiet time together. One of the kids gets the sniffles, my sister is in a crisis, Brent is out of town on work, You're both exhausted and as much as you want to do something you can barely keep your eyes open. So if it is on the calendar and if something does happen to come up, then there is always NEXT Wednesday! But I am here to tell you that not much comes before date night.  So here are some things that we have done

1. Groccery shopped ALONE TOGETHER!

2. Mall

3. We have seen 2 movies in one month, Slumdog millionaire and Gran Torino

4. EAT of favorite thing to do alone!

5. Painted pottery

6. Visited with friends

7. Ice cream and a walk in the park

8. Lobster Fest (TONIGHT!!) The one time a year I eat at red lobster! 

9. Proud Annie's Dinner Theater

10. Look for places to build the next house

So, these are just a few that I can think of off the top of my head. The time with just my husband is so minimal but so treasured. I always look forward to Wednesday nights. They make my week!

 Forgot to mention that we are beyond blessed to have our wonderful babysitter Miss Heather that is so dedicated to us, she loves our kids and allows us to have this time together every week!

Disney On Ice

We took J.Riley to see Disney on Ice this weekend. He was absolutely mesmerized by it all. I told Brent I think it is time for a trip to Disney.  Three is such a magical age! This gave J.Riley some needed one on one time with just mommy and daddy. My mom offered to take Ava for the weekend...Which I know she just loved! She came home saying "Nonie, Nonie" We will take any new words we get! We had such a great weekend getting to know our big boy just a little better. We also got several things done around the house! Thanks Mom!

Daddy being silly

Dancing in the aisle

Mommy and Ava time!

I started taking J.Riley to Kindermusik as soon as we found ourselves living in Johnson City again. My friend Karen had been taking her daughter Karly since she was 3 months old and they loved it. So here we go, J.Riley was 6 months old and already in an organized sport :) Well we LOVE IT! Im not sure who enjoyed it more first, him or me? It was so great to get out and meet new moms. Our playgroup actually formed out of the very first Kindermusik class we took. J.Riley attended for two years and in January I decided it was Ava's turn. So now on Tuesday nights Ava and mommy get to go out for girl time, no its not shopping yet, but it is good for now! Ava is the youngest in her class right now but she hangs with the other kids well. She is so friendly to everyone, basically she walks into a room and walks out with at least 2 new friends.

Miss. Jodi is Ava's teacher, her demeanor is so sweet and loving and Ava could really spend the entire 45 minutes on her lap if I let her. We sing and dance and play instruments and there is a short story-time. I look forward to this time every week with her and every week it makes me realize that she is not a baby anymore! She is learning so quickly and can hold her own so well. 

I am so blessed to have the opportunity to do these things with my children. Here are some pictures of our time at Kindermusik.

Playing with the hoops

The class playing with bells
Ava, Miss Karen and Karly
The class listening closely
Playing with the bells