Farewell 2013!

2013 was pretty special.... 

At the beginning of the year we announced that we were pregnant with Baby # 2.

Soon after that, we found out we were going to have a baby boy!  A son!  We decided that we would name him Max Hayden.  Max after Rhett's grandfather and Hayden just because we liked it. :)

For Ly's birthday this year, we took a family trip to New Orleans!  We went to the aquarium and the zoo.  It was a special time with our little girl and what was, essentially, the last family trip of three we would have before Max joined our fam!

August 12th... Max Hayden Summerford joined our family at 7:36 am weighing 7 lbs. 10 ozs. and 19 & 3/4 inches long.  I didn't know how I would like being a "boy mom", but this little guy has such a HUGE place in my heart.  He is a mama's boy for sure.

In August, our little Lyla started PreK at Gonzalez United Methodist Church's Child Enrichment Center.  What a blessing.  Lyla has loved every minute at school.  She has made friends, learned the alphabet, states, months, weekdays, etc. and she still has another half of the school year to go!  I am so impressed with PreK!  

Lyla also met her baby brother, "Baby Max".  That's what she has called Max the entire time.  We ask her (just for fun), "What's his name" and she'll say, "Baby.  Baby Max."  I will treasure these moments forever.

BIG year for Auburn!  Iron Bowl winner, SEC Champs, and National Championship here we come!

I'll be honest, when I was pregnant with Max, I wondered how I could ever love another baby like I love Lyla.  She is my world.  I thought, how could I possibly have any more room in my heart??  Ohhhh, but then Max was born and that was it.  My heart grew.  And grew and grew.  These two are my universe.  My world.  My life.  I cannot imagine a single day without the both of them in it.  So yes, I worried for nothing. ;-)

Of course, the biggest change this year was our family growth...from three to four.  We have adjusted quite well (and are still adjusting!).  I will say this, we never knew how "easy" it was taking care of one child until Max came in our lives.  Having two kids has totally kicked our butts and has been ALOT harder than I thought it would be.  I will say, it's getting easier, but whoa!  Haha!  I can't believe we ever complained AT ALL about anything to do with watching/taking care of Ly.  That was a breeze!  As hard as the adjustment has been, I can honestly say that it has all been worth it!  I mean really, I love my family more than anything.  They are my rock.  They keep me sane...even though they may cause some of the insanity.  

With 2013 almost behind us, I look forward to 2014!  In 2014, Max will sit up, crawl, stand, walk!  TALK!  Ahhhh!  I am almost crying typing this.  He will grow from a baby to a toddler in 2014 and that, I cannot even imagine.  Lyla will start KINDERGARTEN!  OMG.  Seriously, my kids are growing up wayyyyyyyy too fast.  As for Rhett and I, who knows what changes may take place with our jobs... The one thing I know, he will stand by me and I will surely stand by him.  2014, look out!  The Summerfords are coming! :)

Feeding Max

We recently started feeding Max baby food and I have to say, feeding a baby baby food is one of my favorite things ever!  We have already fed Max plain old rice cereal, flavored rice cereal, pears, and now peaches!  He didn't care too much for the rice cereals, but he has loved the pears and peaches!  Today was peaches and he loved it!  :)

 

See below for a post about our first Christmas as a family of four!

Christmas!

This was probably the best Christmas we've had so far... We definitely saw the magic of Christmas through Ly's eyes and it was awesome!  I got giddy just experiencing Christmas through her! :)  Here are some pics of our first Christmas as a family of four!

Ly on Christmas even night ready for the Christmas Eve service at our church.  The Christmas Eve service is a tradition which I love and we will definitely attend every year....a great reminder of what Christmas is truly about!

My brother (Uncle Jesse) came in town and we were so excited to see him!  We miss and love our Uncle Jesse!

I love my Dad and brother so much!  So blessed that they are a part of my family. 

Jesse got to meet his nephew, Max, for the first time!  They hit it off! ;-)

Uncle Jesse with Lyla and Max....Ly and Max don't yet know how cool it is to have an Uncle Jesse. :)

 Me and my handsome husband.  Each Christmas just keeps getting better and better with him.  Here's to many more Christmas' in our future!

My Dad has such a nice fireplace so I made Rhett and Ly pose in front of it.  

Max's first Christmas and first experience with presents!  

To Opa...what could it be??!

 A brand new flat screen TV!  Now, my Dad has never had a flat screen TV....he has had the same box TV for...oh my word...20 years?  No joke.  So, my brother and I decided this would be perfect for him and he was so excited!  :)  It was cute!

My sweet, sweet inlaws.  We are so blessed to have them in our lives.  Fo' real!

Santa came!!!!!

And he left a note too!  Ly was so excited to read this Christmas morning (or have me read it to her)....she smiled when I told her that she was being a great big sister.  :) 

He is such a good Daddy!  Playing Candyland!

Helping Max open some presents....

Oh my goodness!  Too much sweetness in one room!  These two are exactly a week apart.  Miss Eva is one week older than Max!  They will be running around next year at Christmas time!  Hard to believe!

I really don't know many babies that like tummy time.  These two certainly don't and were fussin' a couple minutes after I snapped this picture.

Lyla was practically attached to Uncle Jesse's hip the entire time....

And of course, any time we go to Grammy and Granddaddy's house...we have to make a trip out to see the chickens! :)

Anywho, that's about it!  Just a small, family Christmas!  My Mom and Charlie are coming tomorrow to spend a few days with us!  We are so very excited!  I hope everyone had a great Christmas as well!!!

Tis' The Season!

Merry Christmas from The Summerfords! 

We hope everyone has a blessed holiday!  So far, it's been pretty fun for us!  We've been busy attending a lot of Christmas activities this month, mostly for Ly.  We went to A Night in Bethlehem at Gonzalez UMC and the Church of the Nazarene.  Ly went to Christmas VBS at our church.  We went to the Zoo Lights, St. Anne's, and the drive thur lights at Holland farm out in Milton.  We attended a couple Christmas parties at church, one where Santa was in attendance.  I just want Ly to have a fun Christmas.  Having a little one around (i.e. Baby Max) this time of the year is hard, just because they require a lot of time and attention, but I didn't want Ly to miss out on anything fun going on.  Plus, she's at an awesomely fun stage where she absolutely LOVES EVERYTHING ABOUT CHRISTMAS.  Anywho, here's our Christmas card for 2013....

Funny story about the card, or I suppose just the picture.  I wanted to take the picture when both Ly and Max were in their matching snowmen PJs (that Auntie Kristi got for them!).  Well, having  a little one, being a working mom of two, and adding in the holiday season, there just hasn't been a lot of time to do a "photo shoot".  So, on the day Ly went to her school PJ party, I decided it was a perfect time to take the pic.  I would wait for that afternoon after I got off work.  Well, apparently little Miss. Lyla had been sippin' on orange drink all day long because the top of her lips were completely stained orange.  I just went with it, hence why the actual card is in black and white.  :) 

And what's Christmas without a Santa pic??  Ly and Max saw two different Santa's this year.  We did not go to the Santa in the mall this year for some reason.  But still, we saw two Santas so I thought that was pretty good!  :) Lyla actually sat in Santa's lap at her school, which I was so amazed to see and hear about!  I'm thinking it was because all her classmates sat in his lap and she didn't want to make a scene, because Santa came to our church Christmas party and she outright said, "NO! I am not sitting in his lap"!  Okaaaay.  So, Max got a photo with that Santa.  I wish I could have gotten a pic of them both in Santa's lap at the same time, but oh well.  Maybe next year.  Ha!  Who am I kidding?  By that time, Max will be terrified of him!  

A Feast!!! And some other stuff too.

First off, the other stuff.  This cutie loves his Daddy! :)

Baby drool always grosses me out...yes, even if it's my own son's drool.  I deal with it, but I could do without it.  Fo sho.

He's a growin'!

This past Thursday was Lyla's preschool's Thanksgiving Feast!  They sang songs, we ate a feast, and just had fun!  So thankful I was able to go.  These are the really fun moments of being  a parent.  Lyla's class were Indians! 

My little Indian.  She's a cute little squaw.

 Pumpkins, Indians, and Pilgrims!  Oh my!  It's Thanksgiving time!

Our feast and Lyla's mean grill.

Each of the kids in Ly's class had Indian names.  Ly's teacher said they googled them.  One little boy's was "Lost White Brother".  I almost peed myself.

Ly and some of her sweet best friends, Jubilee and Katelyn.

I cannot even begin to tell you how thankful I am for Ly's school and for the sweet friendships she's making.  She loves going to school everyday...and these girls are definitely a part of the reason why!

Ly's classmates each made turkeys with their families for homework one day.  We were told to be creative and use anything.  Well, I think they all turned out so cute!  Here's Ly posing with them.  :)

And lastly, just another pic of my sweet girl.  For Thanksgiving this year, I am  no doubt thankful for her and her little brother. :)

I really doubt that I'll post again before Thanksgiving, so everyone have a fun, safe, and blessed Thanksgiving!!!! 

Fun Weekend and Max is 3 Months Old!

 It was craft show weekend at our church!  Always so much fun!  I love festivals and craft shows and such.  :)  Little Miss got her face painted....which she loves to have done! 

Also, Baby Max is 3 months old (tomorrow).  He is such a growing boy!!!!  I have no idea how much he weighs exactly as his next doctor's appointment is in December, but I can just tell he's getting bigger and bigger.  He smiles often and we've even got a couple semi-giggles out of him.  They are not full-on giggles yet, but they're a start. :)  He's eating 5-6ozs every 3-4 hours.  He sleeps pretty descent through the night in his crib.  He will wake up, but once we put the paci back in he'll go back to bed.  Or we'll just put him in the Rock N Play next to the bed and he'll go back to sleep.  Rhett and I are a great team.  We'll take turns getting up to give him his paci, etc.  I married a sweet, sweet man.  That's for sure.  Let's see, Max is getting better control of his hands.  In fact, sometimes when I'm feeding him he'll reach up and grab my face.  I'm not sure if it's on purpose or not, but man is it sweet.  He loves his Mommy.  It's true what they say that little boys love their mommies.  I could just eat him up.  He's a good tempered baby who really hardly fusses, but when he does fuss....it's on!  Lordy, that boy has some pipes.  Max's big sister is a huge help!  She entertains him alot and he smiles at her almost every time he sees her.  She gets pacis, diapers, blankets, etc. for us when we ask.  She loves having a baby brother.  :)  Hmm, also Max loves to play on his play mat.  He'll hang there for a good 30 minutes to an hour.  We're still working on tummy-time.  He's still not much of a fan.  :)  Anywho, here are some pics of my sweet boy.  

I never really knew for sure how I would like being a "boy mom".  I'm not very outdoorsy and I don't know a heck of a lot about sports (other than football because my world practically revolves around it).  But these past few months with Max have shown me that I was meant to be a "boy mom" or more importantly, his mom.  I am so thankful every single day to be his Mommy.  I cannot WAIT to watch him play tee-ball and to see his Daddy coach him in football.

 These three are my world.  I cannot even imagine life without them.