Controlled Chaos

We had a great weekend in Charlotte - for having 5 kids 3 and under, and 4 of them under 2, it was surprisingly easy! Ford had a cold (which he passed on to his momma) and was a little cranky, and Luke didn't sleep all that great at night, but all in all, the weekend was way more successful than I ever could have imagined! We even took all 5 kids to the mall to play on the indoor playground. Those Ray kids are as cute as they come! Parker is smart as a whip, and Maryn is an absolute doll. She is talking so much now and it gets me so excited for Ford to start talking more! She just loves on everyone, especially the babies. And Emma is precious...I thought she looked like Maryn, but now I think she looks more like Parker's baby pictures. I sure do love my nephew and nieces! It makes me really excited to find out what Shealy is

having!

The first picture is of Ford and Maryn at around 3 months, and the second is Luke and Emma at 8 and 7 weeks! Maryn is 7 days older than Ford and Luke is 8 days older than Emma. Jennie keeps telling me I'm on my own next time around, but with kids as cute as hers, it would be a shame not to have another one! Thanks for a great visit, sweet family! November can't come soon enough!

And by the way, my littlest man is 2 months old today! It seems like he's always been with us! The one word I'd use to describe Luke is content. The child didn't make a peep in his car seat the entire 6 1/2 hours trip both ways. He's sleeping pretty well at night - sometimes he'll go 9:30 to 5, which is amazing considering his adjusted age is only 3 weeks! He weighed 10-11 at the doctor yesterday, which means he's more than doubled his birth weight! You always wonder if you'll love the second as much as the first - the answer is YES!!! He has my heart in a different way than Ford does. Ford's my little pistol, and Luke seems happy to sit back and watch. I wonder how long that will last! I adore my boys...we are blessed!

Last thing - a tip for all you moms out there: if you have to give your baby medicine, put it in the nipple of a bottle and let them suck it out. One of the nurses in the NICU taught me this trick and it worked like a charm this morning! I waited until Luke was hungry and he sucked that stuff down in record timing! I always worry about how much they're getting of an antibiotic and how much ends up being spit out, but this is a sure thing!