Spring 2012

Spring has been VERY busy around the Odom house! We hosted about 75 people at our house for a crawfish boil to celebrate the backyard finally being done and had a blast. Mark did all of the cooking and I got to let loose for the first time in 10 months. Charlie LOVED it and keeps saying he wants a crawfish birthday party. Easter was lots of fun! Charlie went to 4 different Easter egg hunts and was a pro by Easter Sunday. Mark and I loved playing the Easter bunny but it was a bit sad not being with our extended family. The very next weekend we went to Galveston for kids fest and the boys loved it! Harris is not much of a car traveler but he’s getting better. We had a bit of a scare when Charlie fell at school and bit all the way through his lip. We were so close to making it to 3 with no ER trips. Mark was in a meeting so Uncle Jay came to the rescue and helped me at the ER. I’m not sure what I would do without Jay and am starting to get depressed he’ll be in Houston over the summer.

Harris is now sleeping in his own bed in his own room in 4 hour stretches. He is HUGE! He has his official 2 month check up tomorrow but our scale already has him at 13 lbs. He LOVES to eat and (unlike his brother) will take a bottle. Charlie had a rough time adjusting to Harris at first but he is doing much better and loves his little brother.  Charlie is starting to read and knows ten sight words we put on his “word wall” in his room. He’s 100% potty trained even through the night and LOVES to pee outside. Mark and I are doing great and just enjoying our precious babies. 

Harris Mullen Odom

Harris Mullen Odom is here. He weighed 7lbs 6 oz and was 191/2 in long... pretty big for being 16 days early. My water broke about 4:30 on Friday afternoon after a play date at the park with some of Charlie's friends. I called Mark and he rushed home and we loaded up the car and headed to the hospital. We called Jay and Jennifer and they met us there to take Charlie home. They wanted to see if I would go into labor on my own but I didn't so they had to give me pitosin to start my contractions. They advised me to have an epidural right away since Charlie came so fast and of course I obliged. After about 2 hours Harris was ready to make his debut. It was a really easy and quick labor!

The next day we had a lot of visitors but Charlie was the most excited. He LOVED meeting his new brother. He has been so kind and sweet to Harris over the past 2 weeks. He has a few moments of jealousy but other than that the transition from one to two kids has been pretty great. We are in LOVE with Harris and could not be happier with our family of four.

Brothers!!!

Grammy and Papaw where in Antarctica when I went into labor so they came up a week later. They stayed for 4 night and were so much help. We were sad to see them leave!

Kristen and I with our babies. Our kids are already so close but having two that are six months apart is a dream come true. I know Jay and Harris will be best friends and Kristen and I will LOVE watching them grow up together.

Emma flew up a few days later and helped with Charlie. What a group!!

Heading home. Harris wore the same outfit as his brother.

Or first night home from the Hospital the Nims came to meet Harris and bring dinner.

Aunt Kim , Aunt Kelly and cousin Ashley came to see Harris.

All 5 Mullen grand kids!

We called Pop at 5 and he was in Austin by 9. He took care of Charlie for most of our hospital stay.

Our "on call" sitters took care of Charlie while I was in labor. Not sure what I would have done without them. Thanks Jennifer and Jay.

The first time the boys met.

First Picture of Harris.

Our last picture as a family of 3.

A week before Harris made his debut. Yes, I am wearing Mark's pj pants because not much else would fit.

Holidays

This has been a very busy but amazing holiday season. We started our Thanksgiving weekend with a wedding of one of my favorite people in Ft. Worth and then we left on a cruise for a week with all of the Odoms. It was a great cruise and lots of fun but traveling with a 2.5 year old is HARD!! It was great getting to spend so much time with Grammy and Papaw and all of our Aunts, Uncles and cousins!

Since we traveled so much for Thanksgiving we decided to take it easy for Christmas. We traveled to Houston and only stayed a few days, Danny and Susan went overboard as usual. Since we didn't make it to Galveston for Christmas Grammy and Papaw came to us for New Years... They brought a car full of goodies for all of us. Charlie really understood Santa this year and loved looking for his "elf on the shelf" named Jingle. I took the time off from school to work on potty training Charlie and his is 90% there! It has been a lot easier than I thought but VERY time consuming! He is getting so big!! He talks in complete sentences and says the funniest things! Santa Mark bought me an ESCALADE for Christmas! It is one of the big suburban size ones so it has more than enough room for our growing family! I LOVE it!! Harris will be here in 7-9 weeks!! I can't believe its getting so close! Charlie is starting to be a bit more clingy and I have a feeling he realizes his time as the only child is coming to an end. I think he'll be a great big brother and someday he and Harris will be best friends.

Charlie and Santa at the  Country club Christmas party.

Charlie and Santa at the mom's club Christmas party.

Jay's Fiji orientation. Mark got to initiate him and Dad came down to surprise him.

Mark took this picture after I broke Charlie's new elmo ornament... I felt really bad!

We went ALL out for Christmas in our new house. Charlie loved decorating the tree.

3 generations of Odom men.

We took Charlie snorkeling and he loved it. He just floated along next to Mark and I. He tried Orange fanta for the first time, if you can't tell.

Daddy went fishing with all of the other Odom men and had some luck.

He fears nothing!

Charlie and Daddy LOVED playing with the monkeys.

Cousins!

Mark was brave enough to get in the water... It was cold!!

Aren't my boys beautiful??

All of the Abilene girls at Carol's wedding!