Family visits and more sledding!

CLay's parents and sister Ann and her son Owen came to visit on Monday. We were so excited to introduce Virginia Ann to one of her namesakes!

The group hadn't been in our house 10 minutes and Clay and Jack were ready to take them to the "big hill" for some sledding. We all bundled up and headed over to Sunset Lake.

Do you think these two had a good time??

Madeline hung out with Grandpa- she didn't want to sled this time
Ann and Owen

Grandpa and Jack took a turn

And then Jack got Ann to go with him too!

Walking back up the hill

Brother and sister- as if you can't tell!!

Being silly with GrandpaA flower, a frog and a monkey

On Tuesday morning, we headed over to Winston-Salem to celebrate Dottie (Clay's grandma)'s 89th bday!

Dottie with the kids- Virginia Ann is the youngest of her 11 great grandchildren!

We loved having family time and hope our visitors will come back soon!

Christmas 2010

We had a wonderful Christmas- our first ever not traveling to family which was a little sad but we loved waking up in our house! Jack was so excited to see if Santa really came!
Reading the letter Santa left him thanking him for the cookies!

The kids were so cute opening their presents and playing with each of them as we went. ONe of the biggest hits was from Mimi and Goose- a bag of dollar bills!! Our kids love the Dollar Store and know exactly what this meant- they were bummed that it was closed on Christmas!

Jack asked for a "big Buzz Lightyear" for about three months. Mimi and Goose came through and he hasn't put Buzz down yet!

Olivia Newton John? No just Snow White! Madeline loves her new princess dress- the first of what will probably be many!

Eating oatmeal in a not so princess like fashion!

Hungry Hungry Hippos

Madeline enjoying her new trike- her legs just have to grow a little more!

Our sweetest present of all! Virginia Ann took in all the chaos and then went back to sleep!

It started snowing Christmas night and we woke up to 8 inches!! Jack was ready to sled at 6am! We waited til about 8am so not to wake the neighbors.

The morning run was chilly b/c the snow was still falling hard. Madeline only last 20 minutes.

Traisping through the snow!

We have had a wonderful Christmas! We are so blessed and are trying to relish this sweet time with our wonderful children. It is so fun to see everything through their eyes!

Merry Christmas!

The front and back of our Christmas card!

One month

We did it! We made it a month! Virginia Ann is a sweet baby and finally starting to wake up and be more alert. She is a very loud little girl all the time- not crying, just grunting. As Clay said "she sounds like a bunch of pigs." She is wearing 0-3 clothes and although not nearly filling them out, she is almost too long for them. Eating every 2-3 hours but the last two nights has gone some 4 hour stretches which is heaven to me!

This has been a challenging month to say the least. I would like to laugh in the face of the Jennie Councill who thought having one child was so difficult. The baby is not the issue; keeping up with Madeline and keeping her away from Virginia Ann occupies most of my day. That is compounded by c-section recovery. My parents gave me a great gift of a sitter on the days the kids don't go to school and that has been a lifesaver. Clay has also been working a modified schedule allowing him to go in early and come home earlier. He has been wonderful with Jack and Madeline and gives me lots of time to rest even when I know he is exhausted too. I have such an amazing partner in this parenthood thing with him! I know every one says to enjoy this stage but I will be honest and say it is not my favorite. I look forward to feeling better physically, to more sleep, less feeding and a smile every now and then :) I am proud we made it through the month and excited for what is to come! We will have a very Merry Christmas with our precious little ones!

School Christmas program

The kids had their Christmas program at school this week. We thought only Jack would participate but they brought Madeline's class in for the finale- "We wish you a Merry Christmas!"

All ready to go!

Jack and his buddies- (don't know first kid then, Davis, Cooper, Connor, Jack and Griffin) His class is all boys and they have so much fun!
Singing and Dancing. Jack was very animated!

A rowdy crowd- see Madeline amongst the boys- I think that is how her life will be!

I can't say enough about their preschool. We love it so much and they are loved so well!

Meeting Santa

Our local Chick-Fil-A had Santa this morning so we figured it would be the best, lowkey place to take the kids. Jack had been asking to see Santa and he didn't disappoint!

Virginia Ann wasn't sure what to think of Santa but she was quiet!

Jack ran into Santa's lap and was so excited to tell him his list!
Madeline wanted no part of Santa- this wasn't a surprise but we thought we would try anyway!

A snowy start to December

We are settling into life with three little ones. Jack finally- on day 17- asked to hold Virginia Ann. He, unlike madeline, has really had no interest in the baby. His main focus these days is anything Toy Story related! Here is Jack and his baby sis. I think they look alot alike!

This is what unsupervised finger painting looks like:
It only took 2 weeks for Virginia Ann to see her first snow. She wasn't impressed but we were! It was a beautiful snowy saturday here. Clay took the older kids out all day so VA and I sat by the fire and watched football and the snow fall. A great Saturday!

Starting to be awake more! She is so precious!

We went for her 2 week appt today and she had gained a pound since leaving the hospital! I will take all the credit for that :)

Home

Virginia Ann all packed up and ready to head home. She was not happy about the carseat but has since learned to love it!

We were greeted by a Cookie Bouquet when we got home. Apparently, the bakers thought her name was "Virgin Ann." Hmm, my mom said this might happen but I thought more like middle school. We got a good laugh out of it!
My mom and dad came on Saturday and we were SO glad to have them here. They helped us so much- I wouldn't have made it the week without them! Madeline warmed up to them quickly and they got to see her true personality- while super cute she is also quite feisty. My dad started calling her Samantha from Bewitched!

Goose and Virginia Ann

Mimi and Virginia Ann

Monograms from Aunt Shannon, of course

And speaking of Shannon, she found out that baby #3 is a GIRL! We are very excited to have another niece/cousin in April!

Visitors

We have had lots of visitors over the weekend! My friends Leah and Cary came Sunday afternoon and brought me the yummiest turkey sandwhich from NY Deli!! Leah and Clay went to UVA together and reconnected when we moved to Raleigh. We love her and her hubby Stephen. Last year at their son's bris, we had the pleasure of meeting Cary whose husband Will went to UVa too. We all hit it off and have developed a great friendship which I am so thankful for!! Clay never knew 15 years ago when he met Leah in the computer lab that he would lead me to such fantastic girlfriends!

Cary and Virginia Ann sharing secrets
Our favorite babysitter and friend- Macey

Fabulous friends- Paige, Barb and Macey Smith

Sheri's son Cooper is a good buddy of Jack's at preschool and we have become friends over the last two years. She was excited to meet Virginia Ann and brought me Lucky 32 for dinner- yum yum!

I have brought Virginia Ann to the nursery each night so I could sleep and the nurses informed she is the party animal! Loves to stay up all night and just wants you to talk to her. Things are gonna have to change quickly when we get home!

People keep asking if VA looks like Mad. I don't think so mainly b/c her head is so much smaller! Here is a comparison shot.