Paige and Rhett's Baptism

Yesterday, we baptized Paige and Rhett! The more children Kristen and I have, the harder it is to coordinate anything, so I'm so happy we finally got this accomplished. {grin}

I knew I wanted to have Schuyler and Kristen be Paige's Godparents. They are also Trent's {his baptism is here} and Drew's {her baptism is here}, and she has always been more than a best friend to me - she's also helped me in my faith journey in countless ways - so it's a no brainer for us to choose them. [And to quote Drew's baptism post: I joked that they better not get sick of Gurley children because if there are more, they are stuck being Godparents again!' See? No brainer.]

What makes it super special is I'm Beau's Godmother {her baptism is here}, and this time they asked Brent and me to be Rhett's Godparents. Originally Kristen wanted Rhett to be baptized at their childhood parish in Pensacola {where Beau was baptized}, but it was way too hard to coordinate that, so I suggested the double baptism, and we both got INSANELY excited.

Terrible picture, but see my face? 

That's how my heart has felt ever since we came up with this idea.

Other fun facts about Paige's baptism: she is wearing the dress my mother-in-law, Janet, made for Drew's baptism, and Beau also wore the dress. I love traditions like this! I plan on saving it forever, and I hope I have granddaughters who will wear it someday! Also, Janet bought Paige the same bonnet she bought Drew - you untie the back of the bonnet and it becomes a handkerchief for her to carry down the aisle on her wedding day - I mean come on! - but Paige kept pulling it off her head the minute we got it on, so no pictures in the bonnet, ha.

So enough talking - let's see this ceremony!

Fr. Adrian was a little confused when he called us up to the front of the church because he was expecting 2 sets of parents and 2 sets of Godparents. We had to explain we were the parents AND Godparents, ha!

I don't think we have any great pictures of this, but Beau and Drew are wearing matching dresses. I sent Kristen a text of the dress I bought for Drew to wear, and she said Beau had it, so since they were baptized in the same dresses, it seemed perfect to have them wear matching dresses to their little siblings baptisms.

Playing with Rhett's feet is so fun!

You can see the matching dresses here a little bit.

All smiles!

Yay!!!!!!!

Yay again!!!!!!!

Busy drawing

Trent was really proud to help out and light Paige's candle.

A blessing for the mothers

Presenting the babies! Another cheesy grin from me!

Afterwards, everyone came to our house and we had pizza and cake! 2 mamas with full-time jobs and 5 kids between us meant we wanted an easy celebration! I did bake and decorate the cake, but it was 100% store-bought ingredients and not my best decorating work. Drew helped me decide the design, and she put the sprinkles on - she's a great assistant!

It may not be the prettiest, but it sure means a lot!

Not the easiest to read, but it's the babies monograms with a heart in the middle.

Now we are 100% done baptizing Gurley babies. We'll see what those Williamsons end up doing... {grin}

Lake Austin Spa

For 3 years in a row, Brent has bought his mom and me a Mother's Day package at the Lake Austin Spa. I've never remembered to take pictures to blog about it, but I did this year! After almost having a coronary over the spa trying to tell me sick kids weren't a valid reason for canceling with less than 24 hours notice, they made things right, and we were able to go last Friday! Yay!

We are so ready for some treatments and relaxation!

The first thing you do is get changed into your robe. All the spa guests wear a spa robe the whole time. It seems weird at first, but it's not once you see everyone else chilling.

They have a room called 'The Blue Room' where you wait before your treatments. There's a small buffet with snacks (almonds and dried apricots), an assortment of teas, water, just very light stuff while you wait. It is such a relaxing and beautiful room.

Picture via google {grin}

After our treatments, we had lunch. I didn't have my camera with me, but we had a yummy lunch with prosecco.

Then we walked around. Usually, we go in September and spend hours in the pool/laying out. This day was cloudy/stormy, so we didn't swim but still enjoyed walking around, chatting, and we sat in some lawn chairs out on the lake. Everywhere you look there are gorgeous flowers, the lake is so peaceful, and you're totally secluded. It is heaven.

View by the pool where we usually swim

Terrible picture, but I wanted to show us in our robes, ha

There's a little reading 'house' - I would love to spend a day sitting in here reading!

Who wants to nap here? Me!

Amazing landscaping

See what I mean about the flowers? So pretty!

Since we couldn't swim this year, we did the next best thing and left a little early and went shopping!

Can't wait to go back, honey!

10 Month Comparisons

Grow Baby Grow {Paige} - 10 Months

Paige turned 10 months old on Saturday! I'm really in disbelief that 1 is just around the corner. Having her was the best decision for our family, and I'm so glad I fought Brent for her, ha.

SOOOO not into sitting still!

Stats:
Weight: ~17.5-18 pounds
Clothes size: 6-9 months at Carter's, 6-12 months everywhere else
Diapers: size 3 in disposables, 1 snap down in cloth 
Hair: still my lightest, we've had some comments from people who say it looks strawberry blonde!
Eyes: same blue/brown/green/gray hazel as the other 2 but WAY bluer

Let's start by talking about Paige's favorite activity: eating! She loves to eat! She gets so excited to sit in her chair at the island, she kicks her feet and smiles. And girlfriend can EAT! She eats pretty much anything and everything, and I give her most of what we eat at mealtimes {but still very limited carbs}. The only thing she hasn't liked was pickles.

She will only nurse before/after sleeping. So on the weekends that is between 4-6 times a day {depending on 1 or 2 naps} and on school days she nurses twice {when she wakes up and before bed}. 99% of the time if I try to get her to nurse, she turns her head away. Stinker! I would guess she gets about 20 ounces of milk/day MAX.

Paige sucks her thumb like a champ, and it is still the absolute cutest thing ever. Remind me I said that when she's 5, and we're trying to break the habit, ha!

Sleep has been all over the place this month. Paige is fighting bedtime like a champ, and I think it's because for so long she's nursed to sleep and now that she doesn't and is getting more aware of the world, she isn't going down so easy. It is so sad to have her cry so much, but we're working through it with lots of back rubbing, booty patting, singing... The upside is she's starting to get the hang of sleeping through the night! 

She naps 1-2 times a day. Always 2 naps at school but AT BEST one of them is an hour. At home her first nap is usually 3+ hours so sometimes there isn't a second nap - I think it's her catching up from school.

She goes down about every 2.5 hours.

Other than our sleep struggles, the only time she's ever unhappy is in her car seat. But I can quickly make her happy by passing her raisins! I constantly have a ziploc of raisins in the front with me!

Paige still only signs 'all done', I think she's figured out 'water', and she understands 'more' and 'food'/'eat'. I tried to show her Baby Signing Time this month, but she wasn't interested.

She shakes her head 'no' when we say 'no', and it's so cute.

Paige loves to play with toys, loves baby dolls, and especially anything the big 2 are playing with.

No new sounds this month - still 'ma', 'ba', 'da', 'ga'. I don't think she knows yet what she's saying.

She is SO close to walking. She can stand independently for 30 seconds easily. She loves to hold our hands and walk.

Paige loves to be outside and loves wagon/stroller rides. She loves her brother and sister and is constantly crawling into Trent's room - it's so funny because he usually doesn't want her in his room because of small toys, so he'll pick her up and bring her to me. And as soon as she's on the floor again, off she goes back to his room.

She has 6 teeth. Drew had 3 at this age, and Trent had 8!

If we're not talking about bedtime or being restrained in car seats, Paige is the absolute happiest little girl in the world. She is just 100% total joy and everyone who meets her comments on her sweet nature. She has us all wrapped, and we couldn't love her more!!

Currently

Current Book

Seriously Allena? Another dystopian trilogy? Yup!

Current Song

John Pardi Heartache on the Dancefloor

Current TV Show

An oldie but a favorite! Season 19 just kicked off.

I always talk about a long list of shows I want to watch on Netflix...and I never do!

Current Drink

Eeek...I'm embarrassed to answer this one...we got Chick-fil-A tonight, and I had a real-deal Coke!!! It was delicious!

Current Shame-Inducing Pleasure

I've lost a little bit of weight (about 5% of total body weight), but I've backslid in the last 2 weeks {see that yummy drink above}, so I need to get back on track!

Current Outfit

Denim jeggings, a black-and-white striped tee, and a camo vest

{most from Southern Peach!}

Current Celebrity Crush

I LOVE Kelli {who is the Director of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders}

and Judy {the choreographer, on the left in the pic}

Current Mood

Paige has been giving me a run for my money with her sleep this week!

Current Anticipation

My mother-in-law and I got our spa day rescheduled for TODAY!!!

AND Brent and I are going away for a night to the Riverwalk! Yay!

Current Wishlist

Brent and I need a new mattress. I really want to try out a Sleep Number!!

Current Movie

Allison and I decided to wait until November 1 and see what the Oscar prediction sites are saying and then start hitting them up!

BUT...I have a princess who really wants to see this ASAP!

Current Picture

Hahahahaha

Day in the Life: October 16, 2017

I picked this day because it's mine and Brent's anniversary, and even though we didn't have plans, I still thought this would be a fun day to look back on. I was supposed to see Kristen {my BFF} since it's also her birthday, but Beau {her daughter} was sick, so we had to postpone, boo.

************Monday, October 16, 2017************

Brent is 37

Allena is 37

Trent is 8

Drew is 4.5

Paige is 9 months {for 5 more days}

6:35 AM - Alarm goes off. Snooze 1 time.

6:45 AM - Grab glasses and check email. I'm off today, so I need to set my out of office notice on my laptop. Go into the bathroom, plug in straightener and do all the bathroom things.

6:55 AM - Remember Paige's milk is still in the freezer {I meant to take it out last night}, so go in the kitchen and get it out to defrost and pack up the kids' lunches. Drew wakes up and comes into the kitchen. I pick her up and we snuggle for a minute in our bed. Get her squirty fruits, and we talk about what she's going to wear today.

7:00 AM - Brent leaves. Happy anniversary honey!

He looks thrilled to be married to me, huh?

7:05 AM - Hear Trent in his room, so go tell him good morning and lay out some clothes for him. We are out of turkey burgers {his breakfast every day}, so he wants chicken nuggets for breakfast.

7:15 AM - Go get Paige up. We nurse for about 10 minutes, and then she's ready to go exploring!

7:30 AM - Take Trent his chicken nuggets. He's dressed! Yay! Help Drew finish picking out her clothes and help her get dressed, hair brushed, teeth brushed. Change Paige's diaper and get her dressed.

7:40 AM - Get myself dressed. Load the car. Take the trash can to the curb.

7:50 AM - Start to get frantic as I have been tracking the time all morning. Start to get louder in my 'Get in the car. Turn off lights. Hurry, hurry!' messaging. Get Paige loaded with a bribe of apple slices. Trent climbs in, help Drew get buckled.

7:53 AM - We're off!!!

7:55 AM - Tell me something good! Our favorite radio segment is on. My goal every day is to leave before this starts because Trent loves it, and I love listening to positive stories with him before school.

8:10 AM - Arrive at school. 

Park by Paige's classroom, and get everybody out of the car. Trent runs off to his building, but Drew likes me to walk her up the sidewalk. Then I head back to P's building.

Their school is seriously the cutest.

8:17 AM - Get into Paige's class. Fill out her morning sheet and chat with her teachers for a few minutes. She starts to cry when I leave - this is new for her and has happened the last few drop-offs. So sad.

And so are the classrooms, just too cute!

8:20 AM - Wait in the office to meet a new parent volunteer for the library, Bolivar. When he arrives, we walk down to the library, and I show him how everything works. I'm the volunteer coordinator for our little library which is run by parent volunteers. Just as I am done showing him how to use the system and how the books are organized the first 2 kids come in - Ava and Trent!! Help them find some new books - Trent is totally wild but totally adorable. Didn't take any pictures because I figured the other parent would think I was a total weirdo.

9:00 AM - Leave school.

9:20 AM - Starbucks! Since I couldn't meet Kristen today, I decided to treat myself anyway, ha. Why can't I lose my pregnancy weight??

I love memes.

9:30 AM - Drive by the in-laws' house. The cabinets are sitting in the garage ready to be installed!!!

9:40 AM - Get home. Check email and start making a bunch of calls. We're thinking about switching our insurance, and I want to make sure all our current doctors take the new insurance.

10:15 AM - Susie, one of our neighbors and good friends, texts to see if I am up for a walk today. I am! We both have a few things to do so agree to meet up soon.

10:45 AM - Ready for walking!

11:00 AM - Meet Susie and Grant. We walk and yak a ton. 

Hey double chin and gorgeous pimples!

12:00 PM - Susie drives me home to get my wallet so we can get smoothies. Brent is home filling up his water bottles.

12:10 PM - Arrive at Juiceland. 

Susie and I are both very indecisive, so we are a bad combination when it comes to ordering drinks, ha. When we drive home, we drive past another business to look at the rocking chairs they have - I want rocking chairs on our front porch but can't find what I want.

12:45 PM - Get home. Check email and eat lunch/drink my smoothie. I also planned to do some cleaning today {as part of my October goals!}, so I vacuum our room, the living room, and the playroom. I scrubbed toilets yesterday, so the only thing I haven't done for my goal is mop the kitchen.

1:30 PM - Pumping time! For some reason, I struggle today with getting 1 side to let down, so I spend almost 45 minutes pumping, so annoying. Check Instagram and read my book, Wool.

2:15 - Do a little more cleaning - load the dishwasher and wipe down the kitchen counters. My friend, Allison {my forever movie date}, calls about my Uncle David's passing, and we chat for a bit while I keep cleaning. 

2:45 PM - Get changed from my walk and get ready to head back up to school. Turn on the Bobby Bones Show podcast.

2:50 PM - Leave for school.

3:10 PM - Arrive at school. 

Get the big kids first and then head into Paige's class together. Trent and Drew LOVE going into her classroom in the afternoons - they both want to hold her, and Drew loves playing with the other babies.

3:25 PM - We load up. Trent wanted to go to the library but then decided to be a rude butthead, so I cancel that expedition.

3:45 PM - Arrive home. 

Trent wants to read and the girls are playing in the kitchen/playroom. 

I tell Trent and Drew I want them to pick up their rooms today so I can vacuum, and I remind Trent he has speech therapy today. He usually freaks out, but he handles the news well.

3:50 PM - I finish picking up Paige's room and vacuum it.

4:20 PM - Ms. Terri arrives for speech! Can I just say how much I LOVE home health? It is so nice to not have to load all 3 kids up for another afternoon activity.

4:30 PM - Paige eats a snack in her high chair, and I pack lunches for tomorrow. 

Drew plays in the living room - collecting knick-knacks in a laundry basket and putting stuffed animals all over the house. I love to watch her play.

5:10 PM - Ms. Terri leaves, and we go outside to enjoy this amazing early fall weather! Trent gets in trouble {I already can't remember why specifically, but he is giving me such attitude I send him to his room until he gets it clean which he says will be never}.

6:00 PM - Nana and Papa arrive with dinner! I ordered pictures from Shutterfly {a September goal} and lay them out for her to choose what she wants.

6:15 PM - We eat a delicious BBQ dinner.

6:45 PM - Give Paige a bath. She has food in her hair, and she's a disgusting mess. Ha.

7:00 PM - She gets a few more minutes with Nana to go on a walk with the big kids. I sit outside talking to Brent and Papa. Before they go on their walk, Trent and Paige do their bedtime dance. Swoon.

7:10 PM - Go inside to nurse Paige.

7:30 PM - Success! Paige has had about 5 rough nights in a row of going to bed {it took me an hour and a half Sunday night to get her down}, BUT she has slept through the night. Curious how tonight will go since she went down easy {spoiler alert: she doesn't stay down}.

Big kids take a shower, and I cut Trent's fingernails. How do boys get such disgusting fingernails?

7:55 PM - Drew wants Trent to read to her instead of me, so they choose a Captain Underpants book. Man, he might have been a giant butthead to me all day, but he's being the BEST big brother.

8:05 PM - Crap. Paige is screaming. I go in and nurse her a little more and have her asleep twice, but the minute I put her down, she pops up screaming.

8:20 PM - I leave with her screaming. Figure I'll give her 5-10 minutes to see if she'll settle down. Trent gets some squirty fruits and cheese as a snack - I swear he eats a typically light dinner, but at bedtime, he is starving! The kitchen is closed by this point, so this is when he gets yogurt, cheese, apples, or squirty fruits.

8:30 PM - Nope, Paige is still hysterical. Womp, womp. Head back into her room.

8:50 PM - I think I finally have her down. Check on T who is listening. Make sure he's brushed his teeth {yes} and flossed {no}. Check on D who is down for the count. 

9:00 PM - Take a shower. Talk to Brent for a few minutes about open enrollment at work.

9:10 PM - Get back on the computer - I'm helping my bestie, Kristen, with a database project for her company, so I try to do an hour a night. Brent bought ice cream and root beer, so I make a root beer float.

10:00 PM - Read and get ready for bed.

10:55 PM - Add a picture of Paige to my nightstand. All the googly heart eye emojis to have all my babies here!

11:00 PM - Good night!

Paige woke up at 1:00 AM, and it took me until 4:00 AM to get her down. TORTURE. Can't figure out what is going on with this girl. Womp, womp.

So that was our last day in the life of 2017! I have been doing this for 3 years solid, and it's a lot of work, but I really enjoy it. So here's to another great year of posts!