Akens Family

Saturday, August 24, 2013

Scout Turns Three

Three years. Wow. The past three years have been a whirlwind.I literally started working on this blog entry over a month ago. I can't seem to keep my eyes open long enough at the end of the day to finish anything these days. Kris and I will celebrate our 4th anniversary next month and when I really think about the big life changes we have had in the last four years it really puts things in perspective. We have been busy in our short four years of marriage. We were not planning on having kids right away, but we had Scout within the first year, and then we weren't planning on having a second child till Scout was closer to three so we had twins when she was not even two and a half. Ha! That's how we roll though. Oh..and we moved from my apartment in downtown Dallas after we were married, to a rental house in Grand Prairie, to the house we had built two years ago. Go big or go home, right? Man it's been a busy few years! I don't know how many times we looked at each other while planning Scout's Cinderella themed party and said "I can't believe she is turning three!" She has brought us so much happiness in her three years that's for sure.

I can't even begin to describe how much I love this girl! I see so much of myself in her at times but I also see a uniqueness in her that is all hers. I see me in her when she wants things specifically how she wants them. It may be arranging her dolls, or her horses, or her cars, or whatever it is..she knows how she wants them arranged and dad gum it...she's getting it done! She knows what she wants to eat, what she wants to wear (this one gets real interesting) and what she wants to do. This is SO me. She has a ton of energy all the time and does not typically sit still for very long and I was apparently the same way and I still have a hard time just sitting for very long. I always feel like I need to be doing something. One of the things about Scout that I do love that I think is unique to her is her pure enjoyment of the simplest things. Maybe all kids are this way, but I LOVE how excited she gets over small things that we take for granted. She makes a big show of her excitement too which is something she does not get from me. I wish I was more like her in that way. It's sweetness in its purest form, and I am thankful for her genuine appreciation for a new shirt, or a sticker book, or a flashlight, or cereal. Yes...we rarely buy cereal because there are not a lot of healthy ones that aren't loaded with sugar, but occasionally we will buy her a box of her choice and she thanks us 4 or 5 times for her "prizes" and she really means it. It's super sweet! I don't know when we grow out of getting so excited about the little things in life but I think we could all learn something from children when it comes to this. She will talk to anyone when we are in public. This both makes me proud and fearful. She will say "Mom, I need to go talk to the girl" or "I need to say hi to that man over there". She brightens my day every day in one way or another. She has so much personality and she says some really funny things. Some of my favorite moments with her are laying down with her at night and she wraps her arms around my neck and says "Mom, your the best mom I ever seen" I don't know where she heard that but I love it! She loves little brother and sister too and she asks everyone we come across "you see my babies?" Abby is already turning out to be very determined and very independent in her short 8 months so I think her and Scout will likely fight like cats and dogs...or...like sisters do I guess. For now Abby is completely enamored by her big sister though and I think they will have a really sweet bond.

Scout is really in to music right now and she loves to go through my ipod and play songs off my playlist. She knows every word to "Hey Ho" by the Lumineers, and she knows most of the words to "Home" by Phillip Phillips, " Walk the Line" and "Get Rhytm" by Johnny Cash, and "Wagon Wheel" by Old Crow Medicine Show. Sister has some killer dance moves too! (she gets that from me ;) She also acts like a teenager sometimes which is not so pleasant. She has definitely already slammed her bedroom door when she was mad, rolled her eyes at me, and she argues with me about things all the time. I thought I had a few years before this started but maybe not. I do love her spirit though!

I made a video of a lot of the videos of Scout I have taken over the last three years. I took a LOT her first few months...and I have several on YouTube that I couldn't figure out how to convert over to flip-share. The video is still like 24 minutes long though so I don't expect everyone to watch it all but I did want to have it for me to look back on. Kris and I watched it with her a few nights ago. Sweet, sweet moments that I am so glad I have captured on video. It's at the bottom of this post. Also here are pictures of her Cinderella themed party. (Scout picked the theme! )

Sweet Blue Eyed Beauty

Abby with Granny Jo

Aubryn

Emily and Zoe

Betsy and Abby

Scout with her BFF, Channing

Playing with her new castle

Colton says "Let's get this party started!"

Sweet Friends

Ian

Jen and Maddox

Kamden and Avery not wanting to be caught playing with princess game :)

Jilly and Colton

LOVE

My Sunshine

Scout and G

Opening presents

Kamden made Scout a scooter!

3!!!

April and Stock

Scout and Amelia

Scout and Vince

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIMWI6cHufM&feature=youtu.be

(the video...hope it works this time!

Scout,
Happy Birthday sweet girl! I love you more than I can even begin to tell you and I am so proud of you! I love your big heart and your imagination ! You make me smile everyday! You also challenge me everyday and you are some times very exhausting, but I am so thankful for all the little quirks of your personality.Sometimes I just want to time to stand still. I love our little conversations we have every day. God truly blessed me with an amazing daughter and I am so thankful I get to be your Momma! I love you Sunshine!
~ Mom

Thursday, July 18, 2013

7 months old and Other Updates ~

Just typing the title of this post is making me a little sad. This has been the fastest seven months of my life that's for sure! I do love each new phase and all the fun cute things the babies are starting to do, but it also makes me realize how fast it's going. I just wish time would slow down just a bit. Our days are so busy and hectic trying to take care of things and keep everyone happy that documenting the babies life has been a challenge. I definitely did much better with Scout. I do try to take pictures as often as I can. Pictures are basically the only way I remember the first two months of their lives. I was so sleep deprived and physically exhausted back then. Man! The babies are doing great and growing so fast!!! At their 6 month appointment Abby weighed 19 pounds and 10 ounces and Colton was 18 pounds and 9 ounces. Yep! They are both so much bigger than Scout was at that age. Abby is 90th% for weight and 75th% height and Colton is 75th% on both.Scout was always 10th % for weight and between 50-75% for height. Needless to say I didn't think Abby would get to wear many of Scout's Summer clothes since she was going to be premature and born in December and Scout in July...well Abby gets to wear all of Scout's 9 month Summer clothes. They are both sweet, sweet babies! I don't know what Kris and I did to be blessed with such wonderful, healthy babies but man have we ever been blessed. They are amazing and I love them so much!

What we have been up to:

Colton:
Colton is such a sweetheart. He reminds me of Scout a lot when she was a baby because he is always moving his legs and can not be still. He absolutely LOVES the water! We lay him down in the bath tub and he moves his arms and legs just as fast as he can! It's pretty funny. We joke about his killer back stroke. He is pretty much happy most of the time but when he is hungry or sleepy he doesn't have much patience and his temper shows up. He doesn't usually take long to calm him down though so that's good. He has this little grin that just melts my heart. He giggles when you whisper in his ear. He also gives great kisses! Kris cannot deny him that's for sure. Occasionally I can see me in his eyes, but other than that he really couldn't look much more like his Daddy. It's kind of freaky.He hasn't started crawling just yet but he can roll around the room likes its his job. He covers a lot of area just rolling around. He is a funny little man.

Abby:

Abby is the happiest baby in the morning! She has the sweetest little smile and her ice blue eyes are quite breathtaking. We don't know exactly where the color of her eyes comes from. Kris has very blue eyes and so does Kamden. We also have other siblings/parents with blue eyes, but Abby's eyes are a color you don't see very often. They are white in the middle and they spread to this vibrant blue. In the sun when her pupils get really small she literally looks like she has those freaky contact lenses in that people wear. It looks kind of bizarre. Abby loves for you to sing to her. She is also a bit of a Momma's girl right now but I don't really mind. She gets a little overwhelmed in crowds but she warms up after a while. Our Awesome summer nanny just sent me a video of Abby crawling for the first time. She has been on the verge of crawling for a few weeks now but finally today she took off. I don't know how I feel about that. I am excited, scared and sad all at the same time. We laugh at her because when her and Colton are playing in the floor she will almost immediately try to take away whatever he is playing with and he finally learned to roll away and it makes her mad. It's really funny! I think they are going to be a lot of fun when they really start playing together.

Scout:

Oh Scouty! Where would we be without Scout!? She has grown up so much in the last few months. It's crazy! She is super independent and really funny. She also has become very argumentative which is not always fun. I'm thinking age 3 is going to be a bit more challenging then age 2 but we will see. She is a pistol! She LOVES to sing and dance and her current favorite song is "Hey Ho" by the Lumineers. Which is probably more appropriate for a 3 year old than her last favorite song which was "Thrift Shop" by Macklemore. She likes to go through my phone and listen to my music. She discovered "Ring of Fire" by Johnny Cash recently too so we sing that a lot as well. She is also really in to princess stuff and this past Saturday we had her 3rd birthday party. It was a Cinderella party and it turned out really cute. I will post more about that later. Scout challenges me daily but I can't imagine life without that spunky little cotton top. She is such a gift!

Kamden:

Kamden will be starting Jr High in the August which I think he is both nervous and excited about. He will be 13 in October. Crazy! He is still playing his guitar all the time and he keeps getting better and better! Scout thinks the world of him and she copies everything he says. (which is both good and bad :) They are actually really close despite the almost ten year age difference and the fact they don't get to see each other every day. They still have a very close relationship and Kamden is a great big brother to her. She is basically his shadow when he is at our house and he enjoys it most of the time I think. They are very sweet together. Even when he is purposely aggravating her or she is taking things out of his room she isn't supposed to. Well...maybe not then...but most of the time they are really sweet together.

Kris and Jill:

Basically our motto is to keep on keeping on. We are so tired. I can not even begin to explain how crazy our days are sometimes but I am thankful for a husband who is always willing to help and someone that keeps me going when I don't have an ounce of energy left. Don't get me wrong...I LOVE being a Mom and I love my kids more than anything...but the stress and energy required to keep up with a busy job and a busy home is a challenge. But we do it. And in my opinion we do it well. Not to brag about ourselves too much but I think we deserve it. I know we make mistakes and will make many more, but the important thing is we love our kids and we thank God every day for choosing us to be their Mom and Dad and some how some way...we make it. We end everyday with a smile on our face...even if it's because we are half crazy, half asleep and we are so exhausted all we can do is laugh...it's still happiness. Sometimes I STILL can't believe we have twins!!!

Weekend together in Austin

I still have a lot to update on including our trip to Tennessee and Scout's 3rd birthday party, but until then here is a LOT of pictures I have taken over the last few months.

Cousins