Our New Home

Like Brad and I don't have enough going on; we decided to move two weeks ago. We were quickly outgrowing our first home and the drive to work for me was getting longer and longer. Brad and I had discussed putting our house on the market in the Spring, but we decided to wait and just stay put until after Hudson came and life settled down some. By mid-summer I was feeling very cramped and was worried that adding another person in our home would literally make it explode! So we began searching for houses and found a few that would work for us. Brad and I made a deal that we would give our house 60 days to sell and if it didn't sell then we would wait until the Spring.

Our house sold in 27 days!!! We found a wonderful home that was larger and closer to my job, but it also meant that we would have to pack and move 3 weeks before Hudson's due date......eeek! We have unpacked most of the boxes and still have some decorating to do, but we are beginning to feel at home in our new house.

Here's a tour......

Fall wreath I made for our new home

Guest bedroom

Pumpkin Patch Days

Cooler weather, shorter days, football and pumpkins. Oh, how I love Fall!!

Avery Reese's class got the opportunity to go to the Pumpkin Patch this week. Since I will be taking maternity leave in 2 weeks I have to conserve my vacation days, so Brad was the lucky parent to join Avery Reese in her adventure. Based on the photos and her stories, she had an amazing time. The pumpkin patch offers a small petting zoo, a corn pit, a hay ride, a hay maze, and of course the pumpkin patch itself. She came home exhausted and carrying 3 pumpkins; I'd say it was a successful field trip.

Getting her feet 'wet' in the corn pit

Triple threat

At the top of the hay stack

Attempting a class photo....this explains so much

Making friends with the donkey

Following the leader in the maze

Searching for the perfect pumpkin

The Mitchell Ranch

This weekend we had the wonderful opportunity to meet some of our very best friends in Texas at their family ranch. Brad and I were excited for the visit for two reasons: first was to meet Alyssa and Spencer's 4 month old daughter Vivian, second was to introduce Avery Reese to the 'ranch lifestyle'. But realistically Brad and I had a third agenda for this trip.....seeing how well Avery Reese would cope around a new baby for longer than an hour.

It was a 4 hour drive from Little Rock and for 4 hours all Avery Reese said was 'I want to see the cows'. (It was a looooong 4 hours). Once we arrived on the ranch, she immediately saw the cows from a distance and in 10 seconds was quickly over the cows and had moved on to her next obsession, baby Vivian. Avery Reese was so excited once baby Vivian finally arrived; she didn't waste any time jumping into 'big sister' mode to help feed Vivian her bottle.

Saturday morning we all got a lesson in Texas Ranching. We feed the calves, the horses, and the big herd of cattle. Avery Reese even got to drive the John Deere tractor (all by herself). It was a great experience for all three of us.

Helping Mr. Chris feed the calves

Giving the horses a treat

'Mooing" at the cows

Driving the tractor with Daddy

The rest of the morning was spent playing with sweet Vivian. And after everyone got a nap we went fishing....which lasted approximately 2 minutes.

Overall we had an amazing weekend at the Mitchell Ranch!!!!

Labor Day Weekend

Awww.......a long weekend! I love these types of weekends. This weekend marked the beginning of Razorback Football, which means traveling, eating, drinking, friends and family. The weekend started off a little rocky with Avery Reese running a 102 fever Thursday evening, so I stayed home with her on Friday and we both did a lot of much needed napping. She woke up from a 3 hour nap fever free so we went ahead with our plans to head to Fayetteville, with Children's Motrin in tow.

Friday evening I got some much needed girl time with two of my best friends! Saturday we geared up for the first Razorback game. We decided to bring Avery Reese as this was probably going to be our first and final live football game this season, due to the arrival of baby Hudson in October. She was so excited!!!! She spent most of the game sitting with Brad cheering on the Cheerleaders.

Sunday my parents hosted a cookout with our family. It was a great time. Avery Reese has been very shy around her cousins in the past, but that shyness vanished this weekend. My sister, Stephanie, made her daughter Sadie and Avery Reese matching dresses, so of course they had to wear them! The weather was so nice yesterday, the kids played outside most of the day. It was fabulous.

I love my family and Razorback football!!

Hudson Parker

Yesterday, Brad, Avery Reese, Mama Judy, and I went to see Hudson's sweet face via 4D ultrasound. We did this ultrasound with Avery Reese and were so excited to do it again with Hudson Parker. He was not very cooperative during the first ultrasound, he was face down, so we didn't get any profile pictures of his face. Brad and I were just so ready to see our son's face, finally.

Well, we should have known better especially since Hudson Parker hasn't really been cooperative throughout this entire pregnancy....so why would he decide to behave now. He didn't! I don't know if it was truly all his fault, with Brad's genes it is just so dang hard to stay still and that was one of the main issues yesterday. The umbilical cord was also blocking our view of his face, as well as a foot and a hand, so we had several different obstacles to overcome. The one thing he was willing to show was that he indeed is still a boy!

Here are a few photos of our little man's face:

Hudson Parker and his hand

Sweet face

one foot and a hand

The Circus

This summer heat has been almost unbearable; temperatures in the 100's for several weeks in a row. So in order to beat the heat we have been taking Avery Reese to the pool as often as possible, but this week was just too hot. The high in LR on Wednesday was 114.....that wasn't even the heat index, that was the actual temperature! Remember I am 7 months pregnant, which makes it even more fun.

So when we heard the Circus was coming to town we jumped on the opportunity to take Avery Reese to an all air conditioned event (plus this girl LOVES her animals). Brad and I were excited as well, to see her reaction to all the fun.

We went to the circus with two other couples who have daughters the same age as Avery Reese. The girls were so cute, they kept getting the circus and the zoo mixed up. They wanted to see the monkeys, the giraffes and the tigers.

Avery Reese and Caroline shared a seat for most of the show, it was so sweet. They really enjoyed the elephants, the cats (not tigers and lions, but kitty cats), dogs, camels and horses. The acrobatics were more entertaining for the adults than the girls, so we all had a great time. And somehow we got out of there without having to purchase a $20 light spinner or any other souvenir. Did I mention how much I love Avery Reese?

Cheesing with Daddy

Elephant tricks

Enjoying the show with Caroline

Fourth of July

Ahhhh, a 3 day weekend! I would give anything to have one of these extended weekends at least once a month; if nothing else just to catch up on sleep.

Life in the Miles home has been exciting and crazy these days. I am coming right along with my pregnancy, I'm 24 weeks now and finally feeling better. Brad has been super busy at work. And Avery Reese has been cutting her molars and moving into a toddler bed. Oh yeah, we have also slowly been cleaning out the current office/guest room for baby Hudson.

But this weekend was all about the pool, friends and fireworks!! First off on Friday evening Brad converted Avery's crib into a toddler bed.....she was really excited and has slept like a baby (well toddler) in it ever since.

new bed and owl bedding

testing it out

This girl also loves the pool. She got to swim 3 separate times in 3 separate pools; can we say rockstar. (Now we just need to get her some swim lessons, so I won't have a heart attack every time she jumps into the water.)

On Sunday evening we went over to our good friends house, The Moore's. Avery Reese and Kennedi were so cute playing and swimming together. After dinner and dessert the girls and dads enjoyed shooting 'kid-friendly' fireworks (if that's really even possible). These girls are just so stinking cute!

sparklers with daddy

watching fireworks

girls rule!

exhausted from a celebratory weekend