Baby Kendall.

Cody and Mo welcomed Baby Kendall a couple of weeks ago.  Ben was away at school, but the kids and I had so much fun visiting them in the hospital! Harry and Babe are Women's Pavilion pros. :)

Whenever a new baby is born, Harris and and Hadley immediately ask about the baby's weight.  Cracks me up.  Kendall weighed 6 lbs, 13 oz...the same size as Thatcher's right thigh. :)

Kendall's already made it out to one of Harry's games and attended her very first Chick-fil-a family dinner.  I think she'll fit in just fine.

Emmy's April.

This girl is killing me.  Her personality continues to blossom, and we've done nothing but laugh this month as we've watched her grow.  She rivals Hadley when it comes to stubbornness:  if Harry and Babe can do something, then there's absolutely no stopping Emmy.  And the girl is a ham.  She'll do absolutely anything for a laugh.

She's a climber, too.  Anything, any time, anywhere.  The girl has NO FEAR.  I'm not exactly sure what her intent was in the picture below, but I do know that she moved that little white chair all the way across the kitchen and got herself up on top of it...and then just waited for us to notice her before breaking into a big ol' grin.  She's a hot mess.

She loves making us laugh and will do just about anything to get a giggle from somebody.  I often turn around and find her in Thatcher's bouncy seat with a pacifier stuck upside-down in her mouth.  Or sitting on top of Harris' bed wearing his glow-in-the-dark LED mohawk headband.  Or on the seat of a race car video game steering the wheel at a restaurant.  Or digging in the snack box looking for whatever she decides she'd like to eat:  cheerios, nutrigrain bars, and raisins are among the top choices.

She waves and says, "bye" and blows kisses, loves to play with balls (and will say "ball"), barks like a dog, dances on command or when she hears music, will call out for "Ma Ma" and "Da Da" and can also say her own version of "Harris" and "Thatcher," loves clapping and cheering at Harris' baseball games, will sing "Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba" if she hears us singing The Beach Boys' "Barbara Ann" (as well as the minion version from Despicable Me), does whatever she can to take care of her baby brother (rocking him, wiping his face, bringing him a paci, covering him up, carrying the bottle bag to and from Ginnell's), and loves to wear hats or other crazy accessories just to get a rise out of us.

She imitates everything:  washing hands, brushing teeth, drying hair, typing on the computer, drinking out of cups...the girl pays attention and then turns around and appropriately uses (or attempts to use) the most random things.  Coloring/writing/drawing are still big favorites of hers.

She is little.  And she is feisty.  And she's growing up way too fast.

I love this crazy life.

INK.

We wrapped up Spring Break by heading to INK with the Lockhart girls.  We couldn't have picked a better ending. :)

It's a bit challenging to create outings that are relevant and fun for all the kiddos (and relatively easy for me to navigate as a solo adult and nursing mom!).  INK was perfect.

Emmy had an absolute BLAST.

And so did Harris. :)

Babe found her niche in the television studio.  The girl was born to be in front of a camera.

Harry's favorite part-BY FAR-was the ATM.  Homeboy is all about "cards" and cash.

Hadley and Payton rounded out the day with a dance show.  Actually, Emmy rounded out the day by falling off the "dance show" stage, but I didn't get any pictures of her injuries this time around.

Thatcher's favorite part, hands down, was getting some lovin' from Miss Casey!  It was such a special treat to have her stop by and say hello!

And just like that, Spring Break was over.  Let the countdown to summer begin!!

Breaking Out the Bumbo.

Because this HUGE boy is ready!

And this baby girl doesn't want to give it up. :(

Spring Break Fun: Game Ranch.

Wow.  Long time, no blog.  Our incredibly fun Spring Break week was immediately followed by a school week for Ben, so all my time, energy, and sanity went into single parenting four kiddos, working, and sleeping, leaving no time for blogging!  We're beyond thankful to have Ben back home and I'm ready to get back into the swing of things...I've got a lot to catch up on!

While I didn't get any pictures (sad!), the kids and I had a great (and chaotic) time enjoying a picnic lunch at Playtown Suwanee with Kristin, Katie, and Leigh Ann on Wednesday.  In case you weren't aware, I LOVED high school.  And I still love my high school friends.  Spice Girls forever!!

On Thursday, I braved the Game Ranch.  With all four kids.  On my own.

And it was awesome.

Seriously.  We loaded up the stroller with crackers, peanuts, apples, and carrots and showed up right as the Game Ranch opened (the animals are most hungry first thing in the morning).

For the first time in twenty years, I actually noticed a few changes at the ol' Ranch.  The most obvious was that the deer are now enclosed in a fence. :(  It didn't phase Babe and Harry, but I sure did miss sharing the trail with the deer.

The park wasn't crowded at all, so Emmy was able to walk through over half of the ranch.  She LOVED feeding the animals (and herself) and barked at absolutely everything.  The big kids got such a kick out of the fact that "Emmy thinks everything is a dog!"

This guy just chilled in the back of the stroller.  Have I mentioned how great of a baby he is?!?!?!?!

My sweet Harris made sure I got a picture of him in front of General Lee's house to send to Daddy (it's Ben's favorite part!) as we headed out.

We rounded out the morning with lunch at Johnny's before heading home for naps and room time.

Spring Break was such a great time for me to start preparing for a Summer of Fun with four kids!!!!!!  I seriously can't wait! :)

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Ben turned the big 3-7 yesterday.  What fun we had celebrating him!  The kids picked out his birthday card, gifts (two new Walking Dead figurines to add to his collection), and birthday balloons.  They specifically picked out a balloon that said, "Over the Hill" because they knew that meant someone was getting old.  Made me laugh. :)

Babe was the first one in our room on the morning of Ben's big day.  I can't think of a sweeter way to wake up then to hear her little voice whispering, "Happy Birthday, Daddy" and then climbing into bed to snuggle.  Love that girl.

Ben came downstairs for our morning tradition of balloons, gifts, and breakfast.  Unfortunately, Mimi got him the exact same gift I did (embroidered shorts from Belk), so he returned the pair I purchased and picked out a couple of new shirts for himself.  We didn't bother wrapping those.

Everyone was excited to open "Daryl Dixon" and "RV Zombie," though.  We laugh all the time because my kids have never seen anything remotely related to The Walking Dead or zombies (and won't for a long, long time!) but they can talk your ear off as if they had seen every episode ever released...they love these little toys!

We continued our celebration of Ben by visiting his new office and taking him to lunch at La Cazuela.

The kids and I then came home to get started on Ben's cake.  Their original plan had been to decorate a "zombie/policeman" cake.  That didn't happen.

They got so excited about the different decorating options that we ended up going with more of a "race car/horse" theme.  They never stop making me laugh.

 We ended the evening with the traditional Tuesday night celebration:  Chick-fil-a dinner and birthday cake.

 I couldn't be more thankful this man was born.

Happiest of birthdays to you, Ben!

G-Day 2013.

To say I was stressed about G-Day would be a bit of an understatement.

Don't get me wrong:  I'm a get-up-and-go kind of girl.  I don't like sitting at home.  And I love Athens.  But the thought of carting four kids (two babies!) around Sanford Stadium by myself (Ben was coaching in the Letterman's Flag Football Game) just didn't sound like fun to me.

I'm glad Ben talked me into going.  We ended up having so much fun.

We got to the stadium a little bit early and were able to goof off on the field before the flag football game (which was played right before the actual G-Day game) started.

I even nursed Thatcher "between the hedges."  I can't imagine many babies have nursed on the field before.  Ben took a picture so that one day our youngest will have his very own claim to fame. :)

When it was time for the flag football game to start, the kids and I joined my friend Emily and her four boys in the stands.  And yes, your math is right:  two adults, eight kids.  I didn't get to watch much football, but the kids had a great time playing cars, eating snacks, running up and down the track before they opened the gates to the public and things started to get crowded.

By the time the flag football game was over, the kids had been contained long enough.  Ben joined us in the stands for a little lunch from the concession stand and the first quarter of the actual game.  We then loaded up and headed over to the UGA Bookstore, where the kids found a nice, quiet place to "relax."  I nursed Thatcher, we changed diapers, and everyone chilled for a little bit before we headed back to the van and drove to Stegeman Coliseum for the the Letterman's BBQ.

I wish I'd taken pictures.  Our kids have absolutely no idea how lucky they are:  they spent the morning on the football field and the afternoon running around a practically empty coliseum (the BBQ was set up down on the floor) like they owned the place:  up and down stairs, in and out of different sections, through numerous rows.  It was so much fun to watch their imaginations take off and see them so thoroughly enjoying themselves.  I just have to laugh at their idea of a "normal" trip to a Georgia game, though.  I'm not sure spoiled begins to cover it.

Anyway, we ended the day excited to go back next Spring.  Hadley missed "playing at the tailgate," but we explained to her that tailgating starts back up when the season begins and she seemed pretty satisfied with that answer.

Can't wait for fall.