Visit to the Brawner House

Harper and I took a trip to Missouri over the last week in September to hang out with my sister and the kids while her husband Jason was in South Carolina for 5 weeks at Army Officer Training (he's a chaplain in the Missouri National Guard). Harper LOVES her cousins and was so happy to just be staring at Jackson and Mollie Jane and "talking" with her best baby bud Smith. It was a very busy week between all the shuttling to/from school, ballet, bible study, etc... not to mention caring for 2 babies who were either always sleeping or eating. Good thing there were 2 adults so we could do some of this shuttling around in shifts. Needless to say, I was exhausted after that week and have no idea how my sister managed 4 more by herself!

Some of the weeks highlights included:
-Seeing my mom (Mammy) very breifly for a few hours the day I arrived. She had been with the Brawners the week before and flew out the day that I flew in. :( Better than nothing, though!
-Alison and I doing manual labor in her backyard (our Dad just laughed when he heard this);
-Jackson losing his very first tooth and awaiting the appearance of the tooth fairy;
-Having to introduce myself to Jackson's first grade teacher and all of his friends as "Aunt Buzzy" when I went up to eat lunch with him one day;
-Coming to the realization that Mollie Jane is a "hoarder" with the toys and stuffed animals she keeps in her bed;
-Storytime before bed with everyone (babies included) piled into Jackson's bed;
-Multiple trips to the monogram shop and then going out to buy more clothes to get monogrammed;
-Snuggling with sweet baby Smith... and realizing that he is as big as Harper!

It was such a fun week and leaving always reminds us of how much we wished we lived closer!

Missouri Trip and Cousin Visit

We spent the first week of July in Missouri at my sister's house. It was such an awesome week and the highlight of our time there was getting to meet our new baby nephew, Smith Allen Brawner, who was born on June 10th. This is one big fella... he was a week overdue and weighed a whopping 9 lbs. 11 oz. at birth. I have literally never seen a bigger baby... he and Harper are 3 months apart and they are seriously almost the same size!

Harper loved meeting her older cousins for the fist time, too. Jackson (6) and Mollie Jane (almost 3) were so great with her. Joel and I always have the best time playing with them and can't believe how big they're getting. My parents came up from Texas for the weekend of the 4th, so the whole extended Glass family was together, new babies and all. With everyone's busy schedules and us all living way too far apart for our liking, these opportunities may be few and far between. :(

It was such a fun week and we were very sad to come home. In fact, Harper slept soooo good at my sister's house (Baby Smith was kind enough to loan his crib to Harper for the week) that we were seriously contemplating moving in. That's just what Alison and Jason need in their very busy house-- another baby!


We spent alot of time at their pool, which was so fun:

The babies are too cool for school in their shades.

Harper enjoyed the little boat.

Between both Alison and I, there was ALOT of breastfeeding going on that week. Can you believe we have matching nursing covers? People that know us aren't surprised. :) As much as we would give our left arms to be able to live in the same town, we'd both have to get new wardrobes because so many of our clothes match. Seriously.

Family fun in the pool.

Daddy's girl

The babies spent most of their time chillin' in the shade. Baby Smith is not digging sharing his towel with his cousin.

Al has this awesome little mini pack n' play pop-up thing with a netting. Harper slept great in here for her "poolside naps".

It was so fun to have the 4 cousins together.

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We celebrated Alison's birthday at one of family's favorite teppanyaki restaurants:

Family photo in front of the cheesy Mt. Fuji backdrop.

The cute Brawner family with it's newest addition.

Al and I never miss an opportunity to dress Mollie Jane and Harper in matching clothes!

Poor Al couldn't even blow out her birthday candles without her little eater hanging on.



My cousin Julie and her sweet daughter Claire came by one afternoon to meet Harper. It was so fun to see her!

Harper had fun in her cousin's saucer and was telling Mammy all about it.

Pops certainly got his baby fix in that weekend... he loved holding Smith and Harper.

Me and my buddy Jackson. I cannot believe he will be in first grade this fall. He is the sweetest boy EVER!

More dual breastfeeding. :)


Harper liked snuggling with her Uncle Ja.

Even though he'll probably always be bigger, Harper will never stop reminding her cousin Smith that she's older.

Jackson calls Smith and Harper "Best Baby Friends" which they truly are. Here they are with their matching woobies hanging out together in Smith's crib.

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What a fun week!