christmas card photo progression...

Its proven very difficult to get a good picture of a 5 week old and a 2 yr old... here is photo session #1.

we'll miss you

We said good-bye to Lanny (of Steff and Lanny) tonight. They're moving to St Louis and tonight was the last time we'd see Lanny in awhile. It was so sad... Im horrible with good-byes and wish they were never invented. Fortuntely I get to see Steff one more time when we go see New Moon on Wednesday (woop woop!). I know saying good-bye to her is going to be horrible... so Im not even going to think about it for now.

Here's beautiful Steff with the girls. She's seriously one of the most photogenic people I know.

And a picture of Lanny that Maddie took all by herself. She's a good little photographer... its centered and everything!

Here's Caroline meeting Baxter for the first time. We're going to miss Baxter so much... we had lots of good times with the little guy.

We're already thinking of when we'll be able to get together to see them again. Maybe a beach trip this spring/summer?? Miss you guys already!!! :(

divine caroline

Our divine Caroline is 5 weeks old today!! She had her one month appointment yesterday and is doing wonderfully! She weighs 10 lbs 4 ounces (80th percentile), and is 23 inches long!

She's still eating great and growing like a weed! Im proud to say she's had nothing but breastmilk for 5 weeks! We havent had to supplement of single drop of formula for any reason - which makes me so happy. Yeah breastmilk! Im crossing my fingers that it keeps away the swine flu this season. Check out this article if you want to read more on that. Since this is the week to be thankful... I will be so thankful is no one in the Herndon House contracts H1N1. Especially Baby Caroline. Lots and lots of handwashing happening here folks.

And speaking of gobble gobble... I have to steal this from Jen's blog. Its the ultimate TV guide for Thanksgiving week. What to watch before and after you've stuffed your face with all things yummy and just want to chill in front of the TV and veg. Love it!

what happened to thanksgiving?

Is it just me, or did we really just go from Halloween to Christmas?

Now, I LOVE Christmas... I really really do, but everywhere I go, there are Christmas lights, Christmas music, the Salvation Army people ringing their bells. I even saw SANTA at the mall on Saturday. Santa? Like I said, I love all things Christmas but I feel a little weird putting up Christmas decorations before we've even had Thanksgiving! Maybe I'll change my mind about that some day but until that day comes we're making the most out of the three weeks between Halloween and Thanksgiving and waiting til the day AFTER Thanksgiving (and not a second later) to break open the eggnog and crank up the holiday tunes. Until that day, let's just take a minute to enjoy Thanksgiving.





One thing Im thankful for? Not having to buy Maddie another Thanksgiving dress this year because she still fits into her dress from last year. HA!

And she still looks darn cute in it too.

A few more things Im thankful for...

A healthy and usually happy family (hey, we can't have it all)

Two beautiful baby girls

Sister love

Modern technology

Arts & Crafts done by a 2 yr old (pictures to come)

Friends to spend Thanksgiving with





What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving?

4 weeks ago today...

Baby Caroline came into this world!!! Its been a crazy 4 weeks with lots of adjustments for all 4 of us... but we're hanging in there and enjoying every minute we have with "baby sister."

She's still sleeping a lot, but her eyes are open more and more every day (and I think they're going to be brown by the way). She takes lots of naps during the day and has been going down for the night around 9-10pm. She still wakes up to eat at 12am, 2am, 4am and 6am... but she goes back to sleep pretty quickly thereafter.

Her 4 week appt in next Monday and I know she'll have grown a ton. She just seems a lot bigger to me at this age than Maddie was. In fact, she is wearing 3 month clothes with no problem! Who knows- maybe she'll catch up to her sister who is still wearing 18 month clothes!

We're getting out and about a little more but she tends to get fussy easily when we're out so we're taking that slowly. Mommy is getting pretty claustrophobic being in the apartment all day every day, so Im hoping she grows out of this phase quickly! Today we went to Target to get diapers and wipes and she cried almost the entire trip... until we got to the checkout where she promptly fell asleep. I almost went back to get the things that I couldnt because she was being so fussy, but I thought that knowing my luck she'd probably start crying again as soon as I did! Oh well, there's always tomorrow.

Regardless of causing mommy to cut her Target trips short (what a sin!) we love her to the moon and back! She's bundle of love and joy and we look forward to every new day with her!

maddie-isms at 2yrs, 3 months

Madelyn is doing and saying so many cute things these days - and since I have zero free time to write in her baby book, I thought I could at least document some of it here.

First off - she still LOVES "baby sister." She has shown zero jealousy or anger towards Caroline. She's all love. So far so good on that front. She still wants to hold her constantly, wants her to be in the swing all the time (I guess it seems like kind of a ride to her), and when Caroline cries Maddie says, "mommy baby sister is crying!" She likes to help me change her diaper and even helped me dress her this morning.

A few days ago when Maddie was holding Caroline on her lap, Caroline started crying and Maddie looked at me and said, "here you go mommy."

Maddie says a million words and phrases. My favorite is when she says, "No way Mommy" when we tell her something. I also giggle when she calls Jim "Jim" instead of Daddy. I know he doesn't like it... and I wouldnt like it if she called me Emily, but its cute for now, right? The funniest part about that is that she'll say Daddy numerous times and if he doesnt listen to her then she'll call him Jim because she knows that'll get a reaction out of him. She's no dummy.

Her new favorite song is about 5 monkeys teasing an alligator. It has arm motions and everything. I have no idea whats its called but we'll try to catch it on video sometime. She also sings Jesus Loves Me and You Are My Sunshine. Happy Birthday is still in regular rotation too.

She called her monkey costume at Halloween a "monkey soup." (aka: suit)

And just when I couldnt think of anything else to write- Maddie just came up to me and gave me a big hug and said, "thank you mommy." (so she doesnt exactly get who is supposed to say thank you/youre welcome but I'll take it!)

playdough and baby sister

Just a few shots of the girls in action. One of Maddie's favorite activities is playdough. Some toys are completely ageless!

And Maddie is still in LOVE with baby sister. She's such a sweetheart with Caroline- who turned 3 weeks old on Tuesday! We really couldnt ask for a better situation and are just in love with our girls.

As you can imagine things are a little busy around here, but I'll try to update again soon.

halloween party and trick or treat

Okay, we finally made it to Halloween!!! We hit the apartment Halloween Party during the day. It was rainy and kind of yucky- but we figured Maddie was nice and warm in her monkey suit and probably wouldnt even feel the weather. We were right.

With Aunt Laura

Little Monkey chowing down on Chik-Fil-A

With Daddy watching the kids play games

Maddie wasn't too into playing the games. They were a little too advanced, but she had fun watching.

After the party and naptime, we headed out into the rainy night to our old neighborhood to see our friends and to try trick-or-treating. Laura stayed home with Caroline. This was the first year Maddie kind of understood it and got into it. By the end of the night she said, "trick or treat", "thank you" and "happy halloween!" at every house.

on the porch before we left

a house in our neighborhood that goes all out!

success!

Maddie got a serious amount of candy loot that we are enjoying. I think she's pretty much forgotten about the candy now - so Jim, Laura and I are reaping the benefits of that. She's also not super into candy - so I dont feel terribly guilty.

aunt lola gets into the spirit and family shot!

After the Harvest Festival, we came home and were in the Halloween spirit. Aunt Lola (aka Laura) even carved what she said was her very first pumpkin (at least as an adult). She looks pretty good at it- I think she was making that up.

We branched out this year and went beyond our normal jack-o-lantern faces. We actually found patterns online and Jim carved out a ghost and Laura an "itsy bitsy" just for Maddie. We think it might be a tick... but hey, Lyme Disease is scary too.

Here's our very first picture as a family of four. Have I mentioned Maddie likes giving baby sister kisses? She's moderately obsessed.

And here's the family lounging on Daddy. I guess he's comfortable!

harvest fest 2009 and maddie's class

Okay folks, you must be patient. Blogger is getting more and more unfriendly by the moment when it comes to posting and moving pictures around and I have a lot of pictures to post from the last week!

We had a blast with Maddie (well, and Caroline of course but she slept thru most of the fun) and all of her Halloween activities! This is the first year Maddie has actually "gotten" Halloween... well, sorta. She dressed up in her costume for numerous events throughout the week, trick or treated and even got some candy. She hasnt really eaten much candy in her life until this point- so "loddypops" are definitely a huge deal.

To start the week off right, we headed out to our church's Harvest Festival. This was Carolines first official outing (other than the pediatrician) and she did great (again- she just slept the entire time in the sling).

Maddie donned her monkey suit and got to see all her friends! Her she is sans the hood.

Here's mommy, Baby Caroline (snug as a bug), Ivey and Carter. This was Carters first Sprite ever so he was holding onto it for dear life.

Here's Maddie first taste of candy for the night. One of our friends came by passing out candy and she picked Smarties.


Maddie got to take a picture with Ms Barbara from school. Ms Barbara is the director, aka Principal. Doesn't she look like she cracks the whip? She was dressed as a dalmation while the Childrens Minister at the church was dressed as Cruella DeVille.

On Friday, Maddie's class had their Halloween Party. They got to come to school dressed in their costumes. Here's Maddie sitting at her seat getting ready for the festivities! I was home with Caroline, so I made Jim go and take pictures. 2 year olds in Halloween costumes pretty much turns me to putty. And I wonder - why do I even put barrettes in Maddie's hair? This picture was taken at 9am.

Check out Maddie's room. Its the best room at the school in my opinion. It always looks like so much fun to be in. Artwork everywhere, tons of crafts and stations of toys to play with. There's Maddie at her chair. Her friends at that table are Noel (as Superman), Javier (also as Superman), Addie (as a fairy) and Kira (as Snow White).

Next post... pumpkin carving!!! I'll get to Halloween at some point, I promise.