Andrew is 4-Months-old!!!

Wow... time is just passing at such an alarming rate of speed! I can't believe that Andrew is cooing, reaching for toys, recognizing those near and dear to him, and just such a pleasant baby!! Okay, the truth is that he really needs to be held a lot, but I am not complaining too much about that. I know that the baby years are fleeting and with that said, another day, another week, and another month have passed us by.
Today we went to church for the first time since he was born (*blush*). Truth is, I have a difficult time getting myself motivated to get everyone ready and out the door. Sometimes I have to admit that the whole, newspaper, coffee, cinnamon rolls and lackadaisical attitude of a Sunday morning sounds better than the running around and getting everyone out the door without any major malfunctions. (Today I had to sew on a button and change an outfit-- nothing disasterous, whew!)
I did get Chris to take a picture of the children and myself this morning. I will have to post it as soon as I can get motivated to get it off the camera. I imagine sometime this week, if not this weekend. My work week is tough with Chris in the middle of tax season. I will be thankful with April 15th gets here, but I am sure not as thankful as Chris. He is working long thankless hours. I know that he is tired and then on his only day off he works at home. I am thankful for the help because I really can not do it all.
The girls are really blooming! Ainsley is really talking now and is so funny. She likes to pretend she is a monster and enjoys "being scary". Olivia is using such adult words and it is so funny to hear her say them in the correct context! I guess I always thought that that would come later, not at age three! She is also beginning to do math. I ask her basic math questions, "what is 1 + 1 = to?" and she responds correctly. I am very proud of her. I make her count out macaroni and whatever else when she helps me cook. I have to admit that she is really big into "arts and crafts" and gets it honestly from her mama! Ainsley is just more involved in her pretend play and taking care of all her animals. I love to watch her develop and blossom. It is hard for me to not compare the two girls, but I keep having to tell myself that Ainsley is not even 2 1/2 and Olivia is 4. Olivia loves to teach Ainsley and mother her. I just enjoy their enthusiasm as they play. I am so thankful that they get along so well!
Well, it is almost 9pm and I am beat. I hope to get this work week started with happy thoughts and lots of good vibes. I really like teaching English and am so happy to be a teacher! (Boy, I hope I wake up feeling this good!)

Andrew at 3 1/2 months

 

It is absolutely amazing how fast my babies grow. I realized today that Andrew can really hold his head up well, coo and "talk" to me and his daddy, and wrap me around his little finger in less than one second flat! Although I felt horrible today with some cold symptoms, I told myself that I could always feel bad, but Andrew would only be little once and decided to do a quick photo shoot. Yes, I have professional pictures made, but something about getting him to smile and look at the camera for me makes my heart happy. I actually felt better afterwards and decided that at some point this week I will have to do the same thing for the girls.

This weekend I had to cut a chunk of hair from Ainsley due to her need to twist and twirl her hair. I have about decided that she will need to have a bob in order to get her to stop that horrible habit she has acquired. I just don't know what to do about it, so anyone have any ideas, please pass them along to me!

Today is my brother's birthday and although he is living in Sweden we had a nice web phone call today. Olivia and Ainsley spent the night with their GG and PawPaw and I attempted to get some things done, although nothing really accompished due to this cold I have.

Olivia and Ainsley both have expressed to me that they need new shoes and make-up from Target... I guess it really starts early, huh?

I hear the baby and with Chris working 7 days a week during Tax season, if I don't go get him, no one else will!

I look forward to all the neat things the children will do this week.. I will try to update soon!

Larissa~

 

 

 

 

Olivia, Ainsley & Andrew

 

Okay! All three Goodrich children together!! As Andrew gets older, it does get easier to take their picture together! I know this is not the perfect picture of Ainsley, bless her heart, she just can't sit still in her little 2-year-old body!! She loves her baby brother and is such a character. During our trip yesterday to Spanish Fort both girls were in rare form! They both planned on spending the night with their grandmother before we even got dressed. Olivia packed her game, her PJ bottoms, Ainsley's pacifer, and about 8-9 pair of panties... (??) We all laughed at this once we got to Mimi's house and was going through her bag. We might not know what is important to pack, but apparently Olivia is a girl with a plan! She even wanted to take her alarm clock, "so I know what the time is at home". Imagine that! We did talk her out of the clock, but her bag was toted around and Ainsley followed hoping for a chance to go through it before we left. (Olivia kept telling Ainsley to get her own bag!)

Our weekend consisted of a bunch of family time and discussions about our new house. Olivia begins most sentences with, "When we get a new house...." and Ainsley says, "and.. and.. and..." A LOT. She has so much to say! Andrew is beginning to coo and talk. Today as I loved on him and talked to him he laughed outloud... already! The doctor says he has great head control and at 14 lbs, 4 oz... is growing fast and filling out his long little body! I will say that he is now officially drinking about 4 oz of juice along with his normal breast milk diet... I can barely keep up with is caloric intake! Although the juice is purely for other issues... he is a bit spoiled though.. his juice has to be heated up!!!!! (what a stinker!)

Olivia & Andrew

 

We were getting ready to go walk the property in Spanish Fort and go see Mimi and Grandpa.... Olivia wanted curls in her hair and we took time to get everyone dressed up for the outting... Andrew was as happy as ever and loved the attention he received from Olivia wanting to hold him. I grabbed the camera and this picture was the cutest!

It's official... We bought a piece of land!

 


Our family will soon begin to finalize plans to build the house our children will grow up in! We are both excited, nervous and anxious for things to begin! It is quite humerous that we buy a lot on a street that NO ONE will be able to pronounce correctly, or spell, for that matter. I told Chris how I was hoping to go with a name that wasn't needing to be spelled each time, but no luck there. We could not pass it up though.. the land is beautiful and located in Cambron along HWY 31. Great schools, great neighborhood.... We are really excited!