Pecking Order

Heard over the baby monitor in our house one morning:

Avery: "Kate! Kate! Wake up right now and get out of this room! And close the door! I want some alone time in here!"

Kate complied.

Don't feel too bad for Kate, though.

Most of the time she can be found clobbering Reese - knocking her over and laying on top of her, shoving things in her mouth, poking her face or otherwise proving just how big she is compared to the baby.

And who does Reese assert herself over? Poor Dottie.

It makes sense, then, that the most surefire way for Avery to make Reese belly laugh is to yell Kate's name in her most annoyed, frustrated voice.

I mean, even pecking orders have a way of evening themselves out.

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Baby Egucashun

This weekend was Reese's Baby Egucashun. I thought an egucashun was what happened at school, but we dressed Reesie up in a fancy white dress (that mom and dad say Kate and I both wore) and then we went to church. Nana, DD, Kate and I watched while Mommy and Daddy went to the front of the church with Reese while Mr. Clint, Ms. Tonia and Mr. Andrew all prayed and talked about Reese.

After the Egucashun, we had another McClinton baby tradition. Most kids get their first cake at their birthday, but not in our family! It started when Great-Mimi brought me a cake and let me taste it when I was dedicated. I LOVED the icing and lunged for more. And since I got a cake, it was only fair that Kate got to try cake at her dedication as well. She was less impressed with the cake than I was. Now... Reese's turn!

Reese reached for the cake and wasn't sure what to do with it once it was on her fingers. It took a while but finally she tasted it. She made a surprised face and didn't go back for more. She much preferred her sweet potatoes. Go figure.

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Love,

Avery

Saying Goodbye

Some of our very, very dear friends, Adam and Erin, are about to move away... to England! Their adventure means excitement, obedience to God, and I am certain - blessings. However, it also means saying goodbye... although only temporary and only in a physical sense - they will never be far from our hearts or our emails.

I've tried to think of a way to put into words what these friends of ours mean to us, but there aren't words that are worth the weight of their friendship. The pair of them have been neighbors, ministry partners, friends, vacation partners, and examples in our lives. Jordan and I have been so honored to walk with them on the paths God has led them down and cannot imagine the last five years without them. I would never lower myself to actually begging them to stay... but it certainly has crossed my mind once or twice. ;)

To say goodbye, we gathered with some close friends. We played a few games and had a photo booth, which turned out to be one of my favorite parts of the evening. Our friends are super creative when given props, a camera, and a solid backdrop!

My other favorite part of the party was a game we played. Everyone filled out a card, "Adam and Erin will be missed because..." and then as they were read aloud, Adam and Erin guessed who filled out which card. There were so many beautifully written reasons, and Jordan and I talked on the way home about each one. We agreed wholeheartedly with several, but one that sums it up for me right now is that Adam and Erin will be missed because... they just feel like home to me.

I'm so proud and excited for the two of them.

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Happy Six Months, Reese!

Reese's sixth month of life brought...

*one more tooth, which broke through right after the first one - right after her 5 month birthday. She's got two pearly whites on the bottom and her grin couldn't be cuter!

*sitting with confidence and a great deal of balance

*more foods - she's expanded to include most baby foods. She doesn't love green beans and hates peaches but LOVES everything else.

*name research - we found out this month that "Reese" means "Enthusiastic". Fitting, no?

*no classic baby babbling, but lots of squeals and other sweet noises

*biting while nursing! Often! Little stinker.

*her first sick baby doctor's visit - she had a double ear infection but we had no reason to suspect anything until her eyes started gooing up. We took her in, thinking it was pink eye, and discovered that an ear infection that goes untreated will sometimes reveal itself through the eyes. Poor Ree never complained or gave us any hints that something was wrong! Her first sick baby doctor visit led to her first prescription meds.

*getting up on all fours for a split second at a time. She is determined to get to things and is somewhat mobile using 'the roll', but wants so badly to crawl or creep. She's still working on understanding what it takes to do either.

*loves loves loves her jumperoo. The baby gets some serious air when she jumps in the jumperoo, and one jump gets her more excited, which makes her legs go crazy, which leads to more jumps... and on and on.

Reese currently weighs 15 lb 15 oz (46th %tile) and is 26.75 inches long (81st %tile).

Reese continues to be far more than we could have asked or imagined. We love her and her love for people, her excitement for life... and well, her enthusiasm.

Happy Six Months, Reese!

Ten Things About Life These Days

1. This post is back-dated. It's two weeks late. It's appropriate to start with this fact because it is representative of the larger...

2. In 3 years of schooling, not one of my children has ever been late to school. Until this week. Now I proudly display this on my fridge. It's like a special badge of dishonor.

3. Kate has been sneaking down the stairs in the middle of the night and climbing into our bed with us. Most of the time I don't notice until I get up to feed Ree at 5:30 or so, but even when I do... I must be getting soft in my old age because I just think it is too sweet.

4. My husband is amazing. And I mean ah-may-zing. I found dresses on etsy that I couldn't live without but refused to pay the price that was being asked... so we spent some Christmas money, bought a sewing machine, enlisted the help of my sister to pick out the fabrics, and in 36 hours, Jordan sewed 5 full dresses. Two extras because Reese is rounder than we thought, and even with an extra half-inch, couldn't fit into the first two dresses we made her.

5. Last Monday it poured. And I mean POURED. Kate was all ready for gymnastics but our car wasn't going anywhere:

But no worries. A mid-day bath seems to heal all sorrows.

6. Girl Scouts. Avery joined at the beginning of the semester and is just about too much in her little blue Daisy vest. She loves it and we love the company she's keeping (solid kids). This week started cookie sales and Avery was determined to sell 650 boxes. No amount of gentle reasoning was going to sway her from her goal. Her faith in herself is unwavering. And I decided not to squash her optimism, so I let it go. A week in, she counted her cookie sales and realized she's 549 boxes away from her original goal, so she set another one: 165 boxes. Although she's not totally convinced that 650 is out of reach. Bless her.

7. Katie got her first real haircut this week. Last Spring Break, her sister cut her bangs and so we had to get that cleaned up, but she's never had a real haircut before. I took her in to my lady who treated Kate like royalty. Avery is usually shy and processes the whole event quietly, but Kate was 100% her own girl. She followed the hairdresser to the sinks alone, sat tall, straight and proud, and smiled and chatted with Ms. Sarah. She felt like a princess. As my mom said, she's been waiting her turn for 3 years and she knew how to make the most of every moment of it.

8. The girls are still into playing Baby Macy (the real Macy, incidentally, is not a baby at all). It is the perfect game for them: Kate whines and whimpers like a baby and Avery mothers her and tells her exactly what to do. Avery had a day off of school and they spent the entire day playing Baby Macy. I could barely get their attention for how enthralled they were in each other and in the game. Getting along with each other isn't always that easy, but when they are, it is such a beautiful thing to behold.

9. My house is a wreck. I'd post pictures but I'm pretty sure no one else in the world lives like this. I'd rather you think of the worst your house gets and assume mine looks that good. I'm not terribly concerned about it - my life/room/locker/dorm has always been a wreck. But one day, 20 years from now, maybe it'll be less wreck-ish?

10. These girls. And their Daddy. I am desperately and joyfully theirs.
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The Space Between

School keeps me busy most of the time, and Christmas was busting at the seams with activity, but this past week, we discovered the beauty of the space between.

With no school and no activities, and with the Christmas schedule completed, we had time. We fit in some big activities (ice skating with Trey and Erin and The Children's Museum with Mia, Nana and DD... and of course, there was passing around an illness). But we also had about 100 little activities right here at home.

We painted. And glittered. And cut tiny bits of paper. And used up most of the stickers in our house on 'projects'.

And bathed mid-day. And splashed most of the water out of the tub.

And put our new make-up kits to good use. And applied more removable tattoos than we had skin for.

And occasionally, we did played with toys or watched tv or spent some time outside.

For a little while, we just took up the space between Christmas and school. And while it lasted, it was wonderful.

Although... to be honest... by the last day of Christmas vacation, mom seemed like she had had enough... and I had become immune to the sound of her voice for all of the time spent together... and Kate was not willing to paint one.more.thing. And I did not want to share my stuff anymore.

So, I loved the space. But Nana kept singing to Mommy a line from "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas", and I think I get it now too: "...And Mom and Dad can hardly wait for school to start again." I get it now. It's not about not wanting to be together. It's just that a little bit of routine and structure goes a long way!

So, of the people who can hardly wait for school to start again... I am top of that list!

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Love,

Avery