Disney 2010 and Sadie's 5th Birthday!

When we were at Disney for Molly's 5th birthday, we told Sadie we'd take her back for hers. Well, it came around quicker than we expected, and with the addition of our little red headed princess it was a little more complicated this time around! Lucy was only 5 months old, so we decided it would be nice to have help so that we could all enjoy ourselves. Aunt Bibi and Uncle Andrew came along with us as our "helpers" and we all had a blast! Lucy was quite the trooper and it was wonderful to have help so we could enjoy riding "big girl" rides with Molly and Sadie.

Sadie had her birthday dinner at Chef Mickey's

One of Sadie's MANY birthday cupcakes

Lucy relaxing after a long day at the parks. . .

Molly driving me around the track, I have nightmares about what this will be like in 10 years in a real car.

Lucy at the Cinderella dinner with Anastasia (I think), their hair matches :-)

We had a blast, but plan to go back on Lucy's 5th birthday!!

Beach Trip

Since Christmas, we've done quite a bit of traveling. Three days after Christmas, we went to Perdido Key, Florida and met Mama Lynn and Granddaddy for a visit. The beach was very cold, and getting to and from the indoor pool from our condo was quite challenging. We figured out from the winter residents that the trick is to use a cozy robe, after that we were all good!

Lucy enjoyed her first dip in the pool with her sisters. Anytime they are around and paying attention to her, she's happy. She's such an amazingly great baby.

We spent some very chilly time on the beach, but the girls didn't care how cold it was, they loved every second.

We had a wonderful time and hope to make it a yearly tradition. It was a nice break after the craziness of the holidays and Kelly's busiest work related time of the year.

Finally back!

I can't believe it's been almost 6 months since my last post. My sister Libby keeps asking me if I'm ever going to post again, as if I could post anything she doesn't already know! But, like I've said before, this blog is primarily meant as a keepsake for my family, so even if I don't write often it's better than never. Now, to figure out what's been going on since November. . . .

We enjoyed our first Thanksgiving and Christmas as a family of five. We celebrated Thanksgiving at Libby and Andrew's house this year and had a great time. The girls love their "Bibi" (I think no matter how old they get they'll still call her that)and Uncle Andrew. Here is a picture of the girls that day:


Sadie was a pilgrim in her preschool Thanksgiving program and did a great job. It makes me sad that she'll be in Kindergarten next year!



Christmas was a little different this year. My sisters and I didn't all stay together, which I missed, but we have our own families now and there's too much stuff to drag around to be together on Christmas Eve night (if you know what I mean)! But we all were together at our house by mid morning on Christmas day, so it was great. It's so fun to watch the girls at Christmas, it really brings back the magic. Lucy and Annie both celebrated their first Christmas, it's fun to have cousins so close in age. I have a feeling they are going to be a mess!

The best picture I could get of the baby cousins!




Molly and Mrs. Niedrach, her kindergarten teacher


Sadie decorating her gingerbread house at her school party!


Lucy Claus


So, that's the recap of the holidays. Now to move on and get the last 5 months updated!

Lucy Jayne's birth story

When I woke up on the morning of Friday, September 4th, I had a feeling that Lucy was going to join us very soon. I had been having contractions for weeks, but they were a little stronger and I just didn't feel good. Molly had "cowboy" day at school that afternoon and I really thought I should go, so Sadie got dressed up like a cowgirl and off we went. I called Kelly on the way and updated him (translation:cried on the phone and begged him to bail me out and go to cowboy day-but he had patients waiting), so he'd be prepared if something happened. Cowboy day turned out to be okay and I made it until Kelly got home around 5. For some reason, I don't know if my body relaxed knowing I wasn't solely responsible for Molly and Sadie, but my contractions picked up and I was very uncomfortable. I wasn't to the point that I was sure it was time, so Kelly took the girls to get pizza and I stayed home to rest. They had been gone about 30 minutes when I decided it REALLY was time and that I thought I was in labor. I called Kelly, so they finished their pizza and headed home. By this time my contractions were 3-5 minutes apart and lasting about a minute, but were not horribly painful. When Kelly and the girls got home it was about 6:30. At this point, we decided that we were going to hospital, so my Mom headed our way to take care of the big girls (she's about an hour away). We got to the hospital around 8:00 and went to triage. I was checked and was 2-3 centimeters dilated and 50% effaced, contracting every 2 minutes or so. The doctor wasn't satisfied that I was in labor (because I had been at 2 cm and contracting often for a couple of weeks), so they told me to walk around the hospital for an hour and then come back to get checked again. The sweet nurse whispered to me to go and walk the stairs. So, for an hour, I hauled my hugely pregnant self up and down the stairs. I was determined I wasn't going home without a baby!!! Kasey and Libby arrived at the hospital to find me climbing stairs and were just thrilled to join me for some excercise :-). At the end of the hour, I was soaked with sweat and having some very painful contractions. The nurse checked me and I was 4-5 centimeters and still contracting regularly, so I was admitted to labor and delivery about 10 pm. I called my Mom and she came to the hospital while my Dad stayed with Molly and Sadie. I got settled in and immediately asked for my epidural, my contractions were getting very painful at this point. They gave me the necessary fluids and the anesthesiologist came in to take care of me. After the epidural had taken effect, my Ob came in checked me and broke my water. I had TONS of amniotic fluid and my stomach shrank dramatically with the fluid gone. The nurse checked me another time or two and by about 1:15 am I was fully dilated. They got the room set up and called the doctor. I was only 35 weeks and 6 days, so a NICU nurse came in for Lucy. I pushed for about 90 seconds and Lucy was born!! She weighed 7 pounds and 10 ounces and was 19 inches long, quite a big baby to be 4 weeks early. She was perfectly healthy, but since she was so early they took her to the nursery for observation for 4 hours and had a neonatologist see her. We were discharged on Sunday and came home to a delicious meal and a birthday celebration for Molly.


This was taken right after she was born, she was very bruised from her quick trip into the world!



Molly and Sadie meeting their baby sister for the first time



Dressed to go home in the beautiful gown and bonnet that Granna made


We are so incredibly blessed!!!

July 2009

I couldn't come up with a more exciting title, my brain failed me as it does so often these days.

I guess first and foremost would be a pregnancy update. As of today, I am 30 weeks and 1 day. I am absolutely huge and at the Doctor two weeks ago my belly measured 3 weeks ahead of dates, the baby measured 2 weeks ahead and I have a high level of amniotic fluid. It appears that this pregnancy is progressing exactly as Molly's and Sadie's did. They were both born in the 35th week and were "fully cooked" and ready. As my Mom said, if I happen to go full term, I'll have to push my belly around in a wheelbarrow because there won't be any way I'll be able to carry it! I am seeing my Doctor every 2 weeks now and having ultrasounds to monitor my progression.

We've decided to name our newest little sweetie Lucy Jayne. We've been hard at work on her nursery and getting everything ready for her arrival. It's been so long since we've had a baby, I'm afraid I'm going to forget something! The girls are so excited, they love to talk to her and rub on my belly and feel her kick.

Molly and Sadie have gone to quite a few little daycamps this summer, as well as two weeks of VBS! The weeks of VBS were by far their favorites. They have great CD's from both of them and have learned some wonderful new songs that warm my heart! Sadie loves to go upstairs and blast the music from her CD player and sing her little heart out!! She's gonna be our teenager that we are constantly asking to turn her music down!

They also attended a cheerleading camp that had a theme every day. These pictures are from "tacky day":



Molly's big accomplishment for the summer is that she has learned to ride her bike without training wheels!! She started out using Sadie's little bike, so she could easily touch the ground (thanks for the tip Amy!), but has now moved back up to her bigger bike. She loves it!


We are enjoying our last couple of weeks before school starts. We have no official plans. My plan is to soak up every bit of these sweet girls that I can before they head off to school and we add a baby to the mix!!

Early Summer Update

As usual, it's been a while. . . I'm gonna try to recap all the pertinent events that happened in May and June, so hold on!

In early May, Molly fell of her Razor scooter and broke her arm. She was in a cast for four weeks, but handled it like a champ. Now, much to my dismay, she rides the scooter again!!! Here is one of the only pics I have of her with her neon pink cast:


Later in May, preschool ended with a fabulous circus themed program. Molly was a hula-hooper (broken arm and all) and Sadie was an acrobat. Molly also "graduated" from kindergarten, which marked the end of her preschool career. My heart was broken thinking about her moving on to "big" school and being gone all day! I know she is ready (she'll be in kindergarten again because of her September 7th birthday), but I'm not sure I am. They both had wonderful teachers that I couldn't have been more thrilled with and that will be greatly missed!



A few weeks after school finished up, we headed for our annual family trip to Hilton Head. Every year, we are adding more kiddos, so we may be looking for a bigger house to stay in next time!! Molly, Sadie and Reagan have a blast playing together. I hope they will always be so crazy about each other. Annie was our new addition this year and she was about 6 weeks old on the trip--and did great!

The best part of vacation is that we get Daddy all to ourselves with no pager or phone ringing for a whole week!!!!



That pretty much covers May and June. I realized by looking through my pictures that I took very few pictures in June, which basically means I have no idea what we did :-) All I know is I am quite pregnant and it's VERY hot here in Georgia, so any indoor activity I can come up with is at the top of my list!

Girls, Girls, Girls!!!!

The baby is a GIRL!!!!!!!! We are thrilled and so excited to add another little princess to our family. My parents have three daughters and will now have FIVE granddaughters! Libby, it's up to you to produce the boys :-)


We'll take another one of these anyday. . .

Easter 2009

We began our Easter celebration by dying eggs. Reagan got to join in the fun this year! Molly and Sadie were the experts and tried to show her what to do. However, Reagan had her own idea of how it goes. . . .

First you THROW the egg in the dye. . .



Then stick your hand in and get the egg. . . .




Then smash the egg against the table. . . . who me???



Of course, Molly and Sadie thought her method was hilarious, so she just kept doing it. It was quite entertaining to watch. The big girls in action. . .




On Easter Sunday, my parents, sisters and their families came over after church. We had a wonderful day and some great food!! The girls hunted eggs and we played outside most of the day. Molly ate so much candy she was sick that night, I tried to tell her, but she had to learn the hard way!!!

The family:



Sweet cousins (moments before Reagan escaped)



Riding the scooters the Easter bunny brought. . .



What a wonderful day to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ!!!

Sweet Annie Grace

My second niece, Annie Grace, was born on March 25th, 2009. She weighed 6 lb, 4 oz and has a head full of dark curly hair. She was breathing a little fast when she was born and had to spend a few days in the NICU, but is fully recovered and perfectly healthy. Her big sister loves her and is learning to be gentle! Kasey and Josh are adapting nicely to being the parents of two children under two. They definitely have their hands full, but are so very blessed!

Snaggle Tooth!

Since Molly started Kindergarten, she's been talking about all her friends that have lost teeth. She is the youngest in her class and it seemed as if everyone had lost a tooth except her. So, you can imagine her excitement to discover a few months ago that one of her teeth was loose. She would wiggle that tooth and it would just BARELY move. Then one morning, being graceful like her Mother, she ran into the doorframe in the bathroom and knocked it really loose. She was thrilled!!! A couple of weeks later, (on Friday, March 20th) she bit into a pop-tart at breakfast and that pushed it the rest of the way out. It was hanging by a string, so I pulled and it was done! She cried at first because there was a little bit of blood involved, but she recovered quickly and was so excited. She called her Daddy and Granna to tell them.




I can't believe how much different she looks with that hole in her mouth. She looks so grown up! This Mamma is not ready!!!

Baby #3 on the way!

We are excited to announce that we are expecting baby #3! It was a wonderful surprise and we are very excited. I am almost 12 weeks along and we have a due date of October 5th. Molly and Sadie were both born about 5 weeks early, so we are expecting the same with this one. We will most likely have a baby in early September, close to Molly's 6th Birthday. Everyone keeps asking us if we want a boy this time, but honestly we don't care either way. We will find out the baby's gender on April 21st at 16 weeks. Here's our first picture of the baby, this was at about 9 weeks.




Molly and Sadie are absolutely thrilled! Molly will be 6 and Sadie will be 4.5 when this little one comes along, so I hoping they will be alot of help. It will be a very different situation from my babies 17 months apart--and much easier I hope!

Incident and Recovery

On December 29th, we had a little "incident" at our house. Our dog of 12 years, Squirt, bit Molly's little hand. I just remember being in the playroom with Sadie and Molly screaming and running into the room with blood pouring out of the palm of her hand. I put her hand under water and called Kelly to find out what he thought we should do. We wrapped a towel around her hand and ran out the door to meet Kelly at the hospital. After several surgeons took a look at it, they decided she needed to see a hand surgeon. So, after our appointment with the hand surgeon, Molly had surgery to clean out her wounds and check for serious damage to her hand. All went really well, she had a little damage to a tendon but her hand has healed nicely and functions perfectly.



About Squirt. . . he was never a friendly dog, but was WONDERFUL with the girls. He was a Rat/Fox terrier mix and was very territorial. He was aging and was getting more aggressive, having accidents in the house, and just becoming "not himself". I was always very suprised and happy at how sweet and tolerant of the girls Squirt was. They could climb all over him and he never was aggressive towards them--until the morning of December 29th. We were forced to make a very difficult decision about Squirt and he is now in doggie heaven (or hell--just kidding).

We now have a new member of our family. Buddy, the mutt that has turned out to be a cardigan welsh corgi. He is about a year old and is house and crate trained, which has been wonderful. He is a little bit hyper because of his age, but he is getting "fixed" on Friday. We are hopeful that he will calm down after his surgery. Molly has become scared of him (rightfully so after her experience) but we are working through it. He stays outside alot!!