And Thus Ends 2011

A little premature. I know. But let's face it...you and I both know I won't blog again for awhile.
I keep wishing I could rattle out a meaningful blog, but I just can't right now. I love writing, but it takes major brain power for me to come up with anything good, and currently all of my brain power is being converted into breast milk. I will have to post bullet points and pictures, which is probably all you care for anyway. :)

-Landon is eight-weeks-old today! Holy Moly! Our little guy seems to be adjusting to this world pretty well. And how are we adjusting? Hmm. I think it's going okayzzzzzzzzz (sorry. I just fell asleep). D and I are just tired. Well. I can't speak for Donald. For him to be tired takes a lot, so I better not say he's tired without his permission. I'm tired. But, I know this is just a season. And a wonderful season that I wouldn't trade for sleep any day!!

our last 8-weeks, in a nutshell...

-Landon was born a week before Halloween, so we were able to take the big kids trick-or-treating while my parents were in town. This was a secret wish fulfilled as Landon's due date was actually Oct 31 and I was hoping we wouldn't actually be in the hospital on that day. Charley was a unicorn at school and a princess that night (impressive wardrobe change, right?), and Eli was a cowboy. I'm so glad I got to be there with them (thanks mom and dad).
-We had Thanksgiving dinner with the Rose family, and it was fabulous as usual. One highlight of the night was our brother (cousin) Mylin and sister-in-law (cousin) Fran announcing that they are expecting a baby in May! Woop! They are not finding out what they are having. Thumbs down. Mystery baby and Landon will be the same age! Thumbs up! Charley has Jrew. Eli has Jazz and Zachary. Landon-- Baby Sinkler! Yay for cousins the same age! I never had that! Now if we could all just live in the same city.
-Charley had her first school performance the other day. Her 3K class participated in the Christmas program at her school. It was too cute. Charley looked like a deer in the headlights and didn't take her eyes off of her teachers who were down in front directing. However, she didn't seem to miss the words or the hand motions... They were just toned down a bit. :) This seems to fit her personality...wide open and boisterous at home. Reserved in public.
-Eli is still growing like a weed and continues to amaze us with how much he is talking. I remember that this was the age (a little past two) with Charley that her speech took off as well. It's so fun!
-We went downtown for the Christmas parade this year. Definitely want to make that a tradition. Hoping the Star Wars float returns next year. It was incredibly random, but the costumes makes me think someone has the hookups in Hollywood.
-We took the kids to McAdenville, NC, the other night. Ever been?? We had never heard of it until last week when a nurse friend mentioned it to Donald. It's basically a small town that completely lights up with Christmas lights. It's pretty impressive. The best part was everyone saying Merry Christmas to each other from their cars (mainly children). Our kids loved yelling, "Merry Christmas!" out the window. It was precious! Eli's "Merwee Mismas!!" was sweet enough to melt the Polar Icecap. D was smart enough to bring the camera so we could record their sweet little voices. Google 'Christmas Town USA NC" if you wanna check it out.
-Kirsten is coming this week! We are excited to share some pre-Christmas action with her in Greenville this year! 

Happy Halloween!

Our lil pumpkin...One week old.

I love my little brother!

Landon meets my sister and her family.

Sleepy four-week old

Landon meets Aunt Alice

The Rose family had a 'Pumpkin Hour' where we all made a pumpkin recipe to share on Thanksgiving day. This was my mother-in-law's pumpkin stew...Beautiful, huh?

These are my pumpkin muffins (aka cupcakes with sinful icing)

My nieces Lexie and Mairin meet Landon!

Frenchiemama gives Landon a bottle

My other sister and her family meet Landon (everyone met him for the first time the same weekend!)

Had to get a car-seat shot

We decorated our tree the week after Thanksgiving. I always am so nervous with it strapped to the roof of the van. But we made it home safely. As did everyone in our path.

Our first Christmas Parade. Actually our first 'city parade' period! Not sure Disney parades should count.

Eli was SO excited to wave at the firetruck.

Our best McAdenville picture. One of the many giant Christmas trees!

Concentrating hard! We are proud!

This is Eli's Wabbit. If you ask him his name, it's 'Bunny.' Original. I know. He has had Wabbit in his crib since birth, but just started paying him attention in the last couple of months. They are now inseparable.

Landon started smiling this week. You have to coax it out of him sometimes, but it lights up the room. I haven't captured it on camera yet. This is as good as it gets.

And to conclude the longest blog post ever, and my last one of 2011... As we celebrate the birth of Jesus, check out the words to this hymn. Praise Him!

Come, thou long expected Jesus, 
 born to set thy people free; 
 from our fears and sins release us, 
 let us find our rest in thee.  
 Israel's strength and consolation, 
 hope of all the earth thou art; 
 dear desire of every nation, 
 joy of every longing heart.

Born thy people to deliver, 
 born a child and yet a King, 
 born to reign in us forever, 
 now thy gracious kingdom bring. 
 By thine own eternal spirit 
 rule in all our hearts alone; 
 by thine all sufficient merit, 
 raise us to thy glorious throne.

Merry Christmas!

Welcome, Landon Thomas!

Meeting our baby brother for the very first time. He was two-hours old.

After his first bath.

Meeting Mema and Granddaddy (this was before the bath). They arrived into town minutes before he was born!

"Man, I'm glad that's over."

Day Two in the hospital.

Charley's expression sums up her feelings for Landon. She adores him!

Family Pic

About to head home from the hospital.

Sweet Sleeper

Auntie Metrie, Uncle Terento and Frenchimama came to visit. One week old.

This is what I look like today. 12 days old.

The Baby Poll

Here we go... The much anticipated Baby 3 baby poll! ------>
Here are the rules and some tips:
1. You don't win anything but a boost in ego if you're right.
2. My due date is Oct 31.
3. Charley and Eli were both early. 10 days. But...that probably doesn't matter.
4. There's a full moon on Oct 11.
5. If your answer is "D," we are no longer friends.

The Third Child/Fourth Child

I just realized something about our newest little guy. Donald was the "fourth child" in his family and Baby will be Donald's "fourth child." I was the "third child" and he will be MY "third child." AND both his daddy and I are the "babies." And more than likely, but can't promise you, HE will be "the baby."
I really don't think any of that matters. It's just interesting. :)

On to pictures.

What a miracle! It's just crazy! Below are the pictures of "Baby" at 20 weeks and the most recent at 36.

Sweet little profile shot. 20 weeks.

He must be thinking about something. 20 weeks.

Here he is yesterday, at 36 weeks. The furrowed brow is a family trait that Charley especially has (when concentrating or confused). He reminds me of newborn Eli in this pic.

The shadow at the top looks like hair (hello, James Brown) and the dark eyes are rather Herman Munster-ish. haha. He wouldn't move his arm, so didn't get a great face shot, but this is still crazy cool.

S'more Time!

Okay, so when I was talking about "fall" in my last post, I was referring to 70 degrees, may-need-a-light-jacket-in-the-evening Fall. Not, 43 degrees, need-a-winter-coat-and-you-have-to-wear-socks-around-the-house Fall. It has been super cold here (to me) the last few days/mornings!
But regardless of my hatred of winter, super cold equals time for S'mores!! Last night D made a fire in the backyard, and we enjoyed a fun treat with the kids! With a 3 and 2 year old, you can't exactly "relax" around a campfire, seeing that they trip and fall about 80 times a day, and a roaring fire in front of them is just asking for it. However, it was still lots of fun and we had a good time taking silly pictures (and eating yummy S'mores).

Charley fully embraced her S'more and it was immediate love, but Eli couldn't get over having "sticky hands." He got the Salley sticky-hand gene that my sisters and I have, which can ruin a wonderful experience with syrupy pancakes, jelly sandwiches, and of course, melted marshmallows. Not that anyone likes having "sticky hands," but this gene seems to amplify the disgust of it. So anyway, once D got his hands clean and gave him a talk about how boys are supposed to enjoy being dirty/sticky, Eli downed his S'more and asked for more "cookie."

It's official. S'mores are better than broccoli.

 Here are a few tips that may enhance your S'more Experience this fall.
-The Clear Value graham crackers that cost under $2 are just as good for making S'mores as the $4+ Honey Maids.
-Baby wipes clean melted marshmallows off of hands (and clothes) with great ease!
-Candy bars now cost a $1 each, which I find ridiculous. I'm pretty sure I remember when they were 4 for a dollar, and I KNOW I remember when they were 3 for a dollar, or 33 cents a piece. We were able to use one Hershey's bar for four S'mores by breaking it into fourths instead of just breaking the bar in half, which I think is the norm for S'mores. We found the chocolate was sufficient, especially for the kids. And you save a dollar. Yay.

Daddy makes us laugh!!

Quite possibly last family pic without Baby Brother!

'Bout Time

It's been awhile. I blame my laptop. It has a power-supply issue and dies if I nudge it, adjust the screen, or sneeze. I also blame my need of a nap. Nap always wins over Blog. Except today, I'm working through it out of the desire to update you before this baby comes out and I never blog ever again.

Summer is officially over. I felt like it lasted about eight months. I'm tempted to say it was hot and annoyingly long, but I think that'd sound ridiculous coming from someone who lives in an air-conditioned house with her well-fed, healthy children, and whose air-conditioned car stays in the cool(er) garage. Don't get me wrong, I always welcome summer with open arms, but once the crisp air of fall returns, I'm totally in love with a new season and am done with summer.

The kids are now 3 and 2, which I can hardly believe. Eli especially grew like a weed this summer. He's super tall and talks a good bit. He's thinned out so much, that ALL of his baby fat is gone. Charley is still hanging on to some, but Eli is just long, lean boy now. Sniff. I will be sad when his "mease" turns into "please" and his "wabbit" turns into "rabbit" and his "I wanna 'nuggle' " turns into "No thanks Mommy, I'm too old to snuggle." He is still such a happy boy, and loves smiling, laughing and being a flirt. He does have a super-shy streak, and will cover his ears when he gets around strangers. He loves singing and will fall asleep singing and wake up singing. Eli is like his daddy, and while he is a good sleeper, he can survive on little sleep and wakes up, for the most part, in a good mood. Charley is more like me in that respect... let me sleep and don't wake me up...or else. Eli has recently taken an interest in stuffed animals...for example, he will sit one down across from him and roll a ball to it, and he once opened a play laptop to show Abby Cadabby how it works. He often gives his bear(s) big hugs and exclaims, "He's CUTE!" And the way he says "cute" is...well...cute! His most favorite things in the world, well above stuffed animals, are sports! Football, "Backetball," "Bateball," Soccer. Loves loves loves. And he appears to be a lefty. Throws with his left. Eats with his left. Colors with his left. Etc. I guess we will know for sure within a few years.

Eli's Birthday Cupcakes

I'm two!!

I love how he's looking adoringly at his candle...

Charley... She is our imaginative little one, who talks talks talks or sings sings sings all the day through. She is full of drama and emotion, but you wouldn't know it if she was in a group of unfamiliar faces. That's when she clams up and sticks her finger in her mouth. She often says funny things, but often times isn't trying to be funny...she's dead serious. Her favorite things are the My Little Ponies my nieces handed down to her and pretending -- pretty much anything -- but lots of times pretending to shop with her cash register and grocery buggy. She loves books and flipping through the pages "reading" what they say (based on the picture or because we've read the book five bazillion times). If she is allowed to watch TV, she turns into an absolute zombie who is non-responsive to the English language. Apparently she gets this from her father, so I hear from his mother. We don't do TV much, but Blue's Clues, Dora and Dinosaur Train, oh and how could I forget Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, are the favs around here.

Our sweet girl...

Both kids remained fairly healthy all summer. In fact, we recently had our first snotty-nose since April, which was like a four-month stretch (which hadn't happened in like 3 years!). Cue the angels singing!! However, Charley and Eli are both prone to what appear to be viral fevers. They get super high fevers which can last anywhere from 3 hours to 3 days. "High" temp for Eli is like 102-103 and "high" for Charley is like 105-106, which goes without saying, is scary. We just keep them drugged up and give cool baths if needed (which is just plain treacherous for everyone involved). Anyways, this has happened three times this summer. Boo. But so grateful for their overall health... something I NEVER want to take for granted.
As far as the conditions of their hearts... well, we work on it every day. ALL day. As they've been young, it has been a lot of "behavior modification," but we certainly want to have "heart-change" and not just raise robots who know their manners but can't put themselves under authority. I'm learning daily, and have LOTS to learn about how to go about doing this. Grateful for a husband who takes the lead and fights the good fight along side of me.

Most Recent Family Pic. Eli is sitting on "the belly"

Pregnancy update? Well, I'll be 36 weeks in a couple days. Whoa. That's insane!! The most common question I get is, "How are you feeling?" and I often answer, "Can't complain." I really can't. I feel pretty good. I'm tired. And I have to wear annoying compression hose on my legs due to varicose vein issues. It takes like ten minutes to get them on in the morning, and by the time that's through, I'm so tired that I'm ready for bed! BUT, they make my legs feel much better and I just realized the other day, I have no swelling in my feet like I did with the other pregnancies (hence "compression" hose...you'd think I'd catch on quicker). I have low-blood pressure and low-blood sugar issues, so between the two, I often feel like I'm gonna pass out. Not fun. But...it's all worth it. And even though I said "I can't complain" that whole paragraph sounds like I'm complaining, but I'm really not trying to! Just trying to fill you in. Especially our family far way who doesn't have the luxury of seeing my amazing nude-colored hose. :) Can't wait 'til we meet this little boy!!

Mema and Granddaddy came to visit for Eli's bday, and we went to Sky Top!

So there's an update for ya. I really want to post more often. I will try! Until then...

The Silly Things She Says, Part 2

"I had a grape popsicle and he had a carrot one" (Apparently orange colored things are carrot flavored).

One night I was telling Charley a story about "Princess Charlotte" and her brother "Prince Elijah." In the story, Prince Elijah bothered the Princess by taking something from her, but she said, "No thank you, No thank you!" and quickly forgave him. The story went on for a few minutes and then Charley interrupted me and said, "Hey Mommy...Can you go back to the 'page' with the "No thank you's" and put in a consequence there for the Prince?" Wow...she wants justice even in make-believe.

While touching my belly and talking real close to it... "Hey baby...I heard you kicking last Sunday. How 'bout you do it again so I can see how you do it?"

Charley often describes people by the color of the shirt they are wearing. For instance, "What is that green lady doing?" Unfortunately, she is often intrigued by people wearing black and white. The other day at CFA, she pointed to a table full of business men and loudly said, "Mommy, that is A LOT of mans, isn't it?!..... What is that white guys name?" She has also said, "What is that black man doing?" (white man in black shirt) and "Yeah, that brown guy did that." (black man in brown shirt).... I love the innocence of it...


"Mommy, may I have some water?"
"No you may not." (for the record, it was past bedtime and she had already had some)
-Long Pause-
Pointing at my belly, "Is the baby crying in there?"
"No, he doesn't cry."
"Why not?"
"Because he has everything he needs...like food and water"
"He has food and water?"
"Yes"
-Pause-Puts on puppy dog eyes-
"Well, then can I have some water since the baby does??"
(hmmm. water, no! teachable moment, yes!)

"Hey Charley...Are we having a baby cow?" No.
"A baby horse?" No.
"A baby dog?" No.
"Then what are we having?" A baby people.
"What kind?" A boy people.

The Silly Things She Says, Part 1

Every three-year-old says funny things, and that's why I must get these down before I forget them and before she's not three anymore!

I told Charley we were going to the doctor for her three-year-old checkup. Hours later, she said, "Mommy, will the chipmunk at the doctor hurt me?" She continued to talk about the "chipmunk," as I was scratching my head, until I realized she was talking about her checkup at the doctor. I then started using the word "appointment," which she then confused with getting a shot. When we left, "Mommy, that appointment HURT me!"

That same day, after her checkup was complete, the doctor left the room and Charley asked, "Mommy...what was that thing around his neck??" I explained that it was his stethoscope and that he used it to listen to her heart. Without hesitation, she replied, "And he heard God in there!" This comment wins the cute award.

We were all in the car together as a family...D was driving... We pulled onto the interstate where they were doing road work, so there were cones everywhere. We had to veer around them quickly to enter the highway, and D commented, "Gee, that was drastic" and I agreed. Charley, who had observed the orange and white striped cones, asked, "What's a giraffe stick??" We tried to explain that we were saying "drastic" and that it meant "a sudden change," but of course that answer didn't fly. She proceeded to ask if giraffe sticks were what giraffes ate, and later, why did the giraffe sticks suddenly change? Eventually we gave up.

"Mommy, maybe one day when Daddy gets old like you, he can have a baby too."

This is my dad's favorite. We were visiting my parents and my dad was reading a book to Charley. She ended up getting frustrated because he wasn't reading it exactly the way she wanted, so she brought the book to my mom and said, "Mema, can you please read this book to me because Granddaddy can't read."

Back when Granddaddy Rose was sick, we were leaving my parents to go visit him. My dad, who is also "Granddaddy" asked Charley, "Don't you call Granddaddy Rose, Granddaddy too?" and Charley replied with a confused look on her face, "No...I just call him Granddaddy" (as in, not Granddaddy 2, duh, people).

Charley pointed at an overweight lady at a store and exclaimed in her naturally loud voice, "Look Mommy! That lady has a baby in her belly just like you!" This one wins the "most embarrassing thing said to date" award.

After Granddaddy Rose died, Charley asked if he had died on the cross like Jesus. I explained that he hadn't but that he was with Jesus. She then asked how Jesus and Granddaddy "got way up there"...I don't remember what I said, but she interrupted, "But God was with them, holding their hands, so they weren't scared, right??" Tear-jerker award.

Summer Cut

So we tried using the ear-guard piece thingy on our friend's clippers that we were borrowing to cut Eli's hair...and nearly gave him a bald spot. We then had to take it allll the way down. Good-bye curls. (for like a week until they grow back). He looks like such a big boy!

Go Cocks! Nat'l Champs Back to Back! You better believe mommy watched every second of every game and nearly had several heart attacks until our defense managed to pull out of  several one-out, bases-loaded situations. Maybe I will play beatball, as I call it, for Carolina one day.

If you are thinking, "that doesn't look so short," let me remind you of this hair-do...