Pre-Christmas

Once again, I am behind... before I post about Christmas, here are some things Emily and I did before Christmas.

She painted some Christmas sun catchers I got at the dollar store. Very worth the dollar spent since she painted them for hours....

But she did take a break to spend some quality time with Baby Sarah.

We also made some gingerbread cookies. I wasn't sure if she would get into it, but she loved it. We had a lot of fun even if the cookies weren't that yummy.

Christmas Parade

A few weeks ago we went back to Andy's hometown for their Christmas parade. His dad was the grand marshall and led the parade. We picked up my sister Layni and met Andy's family there. The parade was really good - we were impressed and the kids got tons of candy. However Emily didn't really enjoy the parade. She was glued to my lap after the first fire truck siren. She reacted the same way she did to the 4th of July fireworks, her head buried in my chest while peeking out to watch the show.

Andy had a fun time taking pictures with the new camera. He took a TON of pictures of the parade, but here are just a few of the family...

Seriously???!

Last night Andy changed Emily's diaper before bed time. This morning when he changed her when she got up, he realized he had put on Sarah's size 1 diaper on her the night before. Seriously???? My two year old can fit into a size 1 diaper??! He said it was a "little snug," but didn't think much about.

And don't think Andy changes diapers all the time, it was just my lucky day!

When Emily was little, we joked with Johnny and Jennifer that she made whole milk while I made skim milk since Simon was much bigger than Emily. I think I got whole milk this time !!!

Check out our chunky chunk....

1 Month

I tried to take some pictures of Sarah on her 1 month birthday. It really didn't go so well... this is the best one I got.

Of course, then Emily wanted up on the chair with Sarah.

Then Sarah so nicely told me she was done with the picture taking (notice the middle finger)! Maybe next month will be more successful.

5 YEARS!!!

December 6th was Andy and I's 5 year anniversary. In some ways, I can't believe it has already been 5 years, however I also can't believe is has ONLY been 5 years!! Regardless, I am very happy to be married to such a wonderful man.

In honor of our 5 years, here are 5 things I love about Andy:

1. I love that he is such a hard worker for our family, whether it be at home or work. He always puts our family first and I appreciate that.

2. I love what a great father he is to our 2 girls. Emily is waiting by the door when he gets home from work and is stuck on him for the rest of the night.

3. I love all of his crazy quirks, like noticing when you move something from its "place" by only a quarter of an inch. Or how he has to get the best deal on everything he buys, even if it means going back to the store TWICE because of price matching.

4. I love that he is a country boy, some may even call him a redneck. Since I am a country girl, this is a good match because we both enjoy the same things. Also neither one of us have any desire to live anywhere but the South, or even out of NC for that matter.

5. I love that I know without a doubt that he loves me and is totally commited to our relationship.

PS- If anyone saw The Office tonight, Andy is just like Dwight. He wanted me to buy a bunch of Elmo Live dolls last month thinking they would be the hot Christmas item this year and we could make lots of money if they sold out. However, I did not, but we were dying laughing tonight.

For our anniversary, we went out to eat at Bonefish Grill. Jennifer and Jonathan watched Emily and we took Sarah with us. It was so nice to eat without trying to worry about a 2 year old.

They took Emily over to our church's Christmas Nativity Celebration. Emily and Simon got to dress up as an angel and wise man, however it looks like Emily just wanted to hold the baby doll.

Sarah's Blessing Day

This is a little late, but the Sunday after Thanksgiving we blessed Sarah at church. We were thankful to have some of our family members there and sad that other ones were not able to make it. Sarah was an absolute angel on her special day and Andy gave her a sweet blessing.

This one is my favorite!

Thankful for my family

We have had a great time introducing Sarah to all her new relatives. Andy's family came down to visit her the weekend after she was born. Chandler (2 yrs old) wanted to hold her the whole time and wouldn't let her go. I am sure Sarah enjoyed all the attention.

We went down to my dad's for Thanksgiving dinner last Sunday. However I am kicking myself because I didn't get a picture of Sarah with my dad. Ugh! However I did get a birthday shot with Layni (my little sister). She turned 6 a few days before I turned... never mind you don't need to know that. I decided to stop counting this year.

Then we went to my mom's house for a few days for Thanksgiving. My oldest sister Christine was there with her family and then my younger sister Ashley came with her girls on Saturday (her studious husband had to get back to school). We had a great visit. Us girls saw Twilight one night and the guys saw the James Bond movie another night. We also did some Black Friday shopping. Andy was out with the early birds at 5:00 (he absolutely loves Black Friday) and the girls went later. Of course, the cousins had a great time playing together and with Nana and Sarah was spoiled again.

I loved being with my sisters. They totally spoileded me and my baby. They changed her, dressed her and carried her around while shopping (and I am sure they would nurse her if they could -- just kidding, we don't go that far!)

Our Thanksgiving dinner was very nice and yummy. Isn't it funny how it takes all day to prepare the meal, and yet the meal doesn't last long at all??! I think this post sums up what I am thankful for ... a healthy new baby and a wonderful family to share her with!

The Girls

Here are a few cute things Emily has been saying lately:

• The other night at bedtime I told her she had 5 mintues before it was bedtime. Her reply was "10 minutes!!!" Andy busted out laughed and then Emily started acting silly and was laughing at herself. Now she likes to say "10 minutes"and start laughing.
  
• We have been around family a lot this week and Emily must have picked up on everyone calling us by our names. So she has started calling us Suzie and Andy. (It really bugs Andy)

Her new favorite phrase is "Oh Gosh!" I don't know where she picked this one up from but she walks around the house saying it.

Sarah is the best little baby (so far). She hardly ever cries, except during a bath or diaper changes. She HATES both of those.

She is a good little eater and has taken to nursing without any problems. She is really starting to put on some weight. She was 7 lbs 6oz at her 2 week checkup.

She still sleeps ALL THE TIME, but has begun having more awake periods during the day. Nighttime is getting better. The first week she was awake during 2 am - 4 am, but now she just wakes up to nurse every 3 hours and then goes right back to sleep.

The best thing is these little girls is that they LOVE each other. Emily loves to get as close as possible to Sarah's face and stare at her. Hopefully there is some bonding going on here.


And on a side note... we got a new camera for our anniversary/Christmas present. Our old camera has a serious delay and we always miss the cute shots. So we went all out and got a fancy one that we have no idea how to use. Actually Andy has been reading a lot on the web and might take a class to figure it all out. But already we has taken some really cute shots.

Baby Shower... finally!

My friend Lindsay threw me a "diaper and wipes" shower this week. We had to change the date of the shower a few times due to Sarah's threat to come early and then her actual arrival. I have decided that my girls like to attend their baby showers, since Emily was there for hers too.

Anyways, I was very excited about the shower because I needed to finally get out of the house and have some "girl" time. We had such a fun time and Lindsay did an excellent job decorating. She even pulled out the china and crystal -- it was like a tea party!

Thank you girls for all the yummy food and such cute gifts. And thanks to my awesome Mom who drove up here for the shower and then had to turn around and drive right back home.

Sisters and a haircut

So far, Emily doesn't seem to really mind Sarah being around. She just walks past her in the swing and taps her feet and says "Hey Baby!" and then goes about her business. When Sarah is awake she loves to watch Emily dancing around and acting like a nut. I am so glad I have 2 little sisters. I look forward to watch them grow up together and develop a sisterly bond. I don't have any brothers so I don't know for sure, but I am pretty sure nothing is stronger than the bond between 2 sisters. Maybe I just think that because I have 2 of the best sisters ever. Can't you tell that I am so excited to see my sisters next week??!

Emily got her 1st haircut this week. Usually Daddy or Nana has cut her hair, but we decided to get a real haircut this time. They just trimmed it up, but Emily did a great job sitting in the chair (they gave her candy!)