Trip to Hot Springs, Arkansas

Mom, Kate, and I took a short trip to meet up with Aunt Sandy, Michelle, and Blake in Hot Springs, Arkansas.  They live in Texas, so this was somewhere right in the middle.  Hot Springs is a cute little town.  We stayed in an old, historic hotel.  We had a lot of fun shopping, eating out, and hanging out in the hotel and letting Kate and Blake get to know each other. 

A series of pictures Kate took of herself: 

Guess she was bored because the grown ups were talking so much. 

On our way out of Hot Springs, we toured an old bath house.  So interesting! Kate was fascinated. 

Miss Maisy Lynn

A little over a week ago, Brad and Vicky welcomed their 2nd baby, Maisy Lynn.  She's SO sweet... we (ESPECIALLY my kiddos) are all crazy about her. 

Who knew Jack would be so sweet?  When Ruckus was born, he hit him in the face.  Now that he's a little older, he sings sweetly to Maisy and uses the words "precious baby" in his songs. 

Cousins

Baby Ruckus

Brad and Vicky had their baby!!! I became AUNT JEN and the kids are new big cousins!! We are super excited. We'll be even more excited when they move back home and we can see him (and them) more!

Vicky was induced the morning of January 10th, so we all made the trip down to Nashville on the 9th. (Mark was in Vegas for a work conference... I missed him and his camera!) We stayed in an awesome two room suite... it was great! Jack could nap in the bedroom while we were in the living room area. The kids had room to run around. Good thinking on our part to get a suite!



The night before baby, Brad and Vicky and Vicky's family, came to our hotel room and hung out and we watched the Alabama game. (I use that term "watched" very loosely for some of us!)









The next day, we were all excited to meet new Baby Ruckus!!







He made his arrival at 12:59 p.m. weighing 8 lbs. 12 oz.!! He's a cutie!!







Kate was super shy at first and was not acting herself at all! We figured it was all the waiting, her being really sleepy, and seeing Vicky all hooked up to machines. It took her awhile to "snap out of it", but when she did, she held him and just cried. She said she was crying "happy tears". :)











Jack is not too baby friendly. The first time he held Ruckus (with help), he screamed in his face (on purpose). That's his way of waking people up. Nice, huh? Seriously, though, pretend you are asleep and Jack will automatically scream at you.







We went back to the hotel for the cocktail reception and some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in the room while Brad and Vicky got settled in the postpartum room.







After a three night hotel stay, we moved to Brad and Vicky's house for three nights. My kids are C-R-A-Z-Y... that's basically how I would sum up that part of the adventure. We did get some quality time with Ruckus, though.



Can't wait to see you SOON, Brad, Vicky, and Baby Ruck!