Update

Brad Michael's graduation party was a success! I didn't get to take any pictures b/c the weather was horrible and we were busy moving the party indoors which made our house was very crowded. Things are going great! Brett is doing well in school and is having a blast playing football. Addison's personality is starting to shine. She laughs all the time. She is also getting kind of bossy! Joe is doing great. He had a get together at our house last weekend to kick off the start of college football. Fall is his favorite time of year. Hunting season will also be here before he knows it! I hope everyone is doing good. I've included a few pictures. We put Brett to work power washing the driveway. I also posted one of Brett and Addison asleep on the couch after school one day. I also have a picture of Addison and John taken during Joe's football get together last weekend. Enjoy!

Update

Brett returned to school this week. On the first day, he got off the school bus with a 102.8 temperature. He ended up missing the 2nd and 3rd day. I took him to the doctor and it turned out his fever was due to a bug bite (possibly a spider) that caused an infection. The doctor put him on an antibiotic and he is feeling much better. He has also started practicing in pads for football. He seems to be enjoying it so far.

Addison is doing great. She has started to play with toys that she can grasp easily. She also reached for me while Joe was holding her for the first time yesterday morning. She is now 4 1/2 months old. I have posted a picture of her with John. John is Amanda's son. She is one of my closest friends. We got to know each other through IVF. She is also my sewing buddy.

As most of you probably know, Brad Michael finished his Ph. D. and is now teaching at the University of Mobile. We are going to be having a party for him at our house Saturday night. I will post some pictures of it next week.

Update

Things have been really busy. I went to my 10 year reunion a couple weeks ago. It was great seeing friends that I've lost touch with. My Aunt Mary and Uncle Porter drove their motorcycle down from West Virginia to visit for July 4th. Joe burned my aunt with a firecracker. We also went on vacation to Pensacola Beach for Joe's family beach week. We shared a house on the beach with about 30 members of Joe's family. Everyone had a great time. The men got to surf and play cards. The kids played ping pong, swam, and dug a huge hole with a plastic shovel. The women got to lay out on the beach while the men watched the babies. During the evenings everyone played monster ball on the beach. Brett said on the way home that he wished it was beach year instead of beach week. Brett is doing a football camp this week with two of his cousins and will be going back to school on Aug. 11th. It has been a great summer! I've added pictures from beach week and Addison's 3 month pictures. They are all mixed up. The 1st is Addison, 2nd is everyone at the house, 3rd is Brett in the hole they dug, 4th is Annie Kate, 5th Addison, 6th is our family, 7th is Will, Landon, and Brett, 8th and 9th are Addison.

Update

Brett is already getting bored this summer. With Addison being so small it is hard to stay on the go like we have in the past. We started going through his toy closet upstairs and found a book on making paper airplanes. Brett picked one that he wanted to make. It took us 6 hours over a 2 day period. It looks really cool, but it doesn't fly so well. We both enjoyed making it. Brett also got a great lesson in measurement without even realizing it. Each piece, fold, and cut had very precise measurements that he had to figure out. We went to the bookstore last night for him to pick out his last required read for the summer. He picked the shortest book on the list (of course). Joe tried to read him a chapter on the way home but he put on his headphones and watched part of a movie instead. He wants to finish all of his required reading before beach week starts. He has made it very clear that he doesn't want to do any homework while we're there.

Addison is doing great! She is smiling and laughing all the time. I took her to the Dr. last week and she was 10 lbs. 13 oz. She is beginning to grow out of her 0-3 month clothes and into her 3-6 month outfits. Now that she is filling out many people have commented that she is beginning to look a little like her daddy.

Joe and I watched the Bucket List last week and began talking about things that would be on ours. The top thing on his list was to go see a Florida game in the "swamp". So, we now have tickets to go see Ole Miss vs. Florida on September 27th. It is the SEC home game opener. We've decied to make a little vacation out of it and spend a few days at Universal Studios in Orlando. Brett is going to start doing lemonade stands this summer to save money for the trip. I don't know who's more excited!

The top picture was taken at our house on father's day. The second picture is of Addison at 12 weeks old. The third picture is Brett with his paper airplane. The last picture is Brett at his baseball campout on the river.

Big Week!

Addison took her first dip in a pool this week. She loved it! Brett is enjoying his summer break. He has had a few friends spend the night and tonight he will be camping out at his coach's house on the river with his baseball team. Brett and Addison also now have a new cousin. Micah Bradley Swiger was born last night. We went to the hospital today. Candice is doing great! She had to have a C-section but seems to be getting around really well. Brad Michael is on cloud 9. Micah is adorable. He is currently spending most of his time in the nursery. His sugar is low and they have him connected to an IV, but they allowed me to go back and see him briefly. I've included some pictures. The top picture is my dad and Micah. The next two are of Addison. The baby in the rest of the pictures is Micah. Enjoy!

Update

School is officially out for summer break. Yesterday was Brett's last day of school. I am so proud of him. He made A honor roll all 4 quarters! He had two baseball games last night. His team won both. He pitched the first game and played short stop the second game. The second game they played against his cousin's (Landon) team. Landon pitched during that game and did a great job! After the game Landon came over to spend the night.

Addison is doing great! She is growing like a weed and should be considering that this week she has been eating every 1-1 1/2 hours. I think she is going through another growth spurt. She has a Dr. appt next Tuesday. I am anxious to see how much she weighs.

Shortly after returning from Atlanta for Daphne's funeral my cousin Tracey passed away. This too was unexpected. Please continue to pray for my family.

Mother's Day

Addison's baby dedication was yesterday. It went great! After church we had a Mother's Day lumch at our house for my mother and step-mother. We had family portraits made to give to family for gifts. We will mail them out as soon as we get a chance. I have posted them on the blog so you can see them now. Yesterday we also received some devestating news. My cousin Daphne passed away. It was very unexpected. Please keep our family in your prayers. We will be traveling to Atlanta this week for the funeral. She left behind three children, a sister, and her parents.