Carina Update

Carina is now 3 months old! She's a good eater, and weighed 13lbs, 4 oz and was 24.25 inches long at her last checkup. She is beginning to "talk" to us, and to her favorite toys, but still hates her car seat. :) Her eyes are still blue, but Mia's changed at about a year, so you never know... She's just a happy girl now that we've identified a dairy allergy, and we all love her dearly!

Where's Carina?

Can you find the baby in this picture? We rearranged the playroom and put everything up in a cabinet, which has made a HUGE improvement to the room - but for awhile there, it was quite a mess!

Cien!!

This evening Mia wanted to show me something she could do.

So I sat here as she counted one number at a time from Uno to Cien (yes, in Spanish!) Evidently today was her 100th day of school.

Bravo, Mia!! Muy Bien!!

Back to "Work"

So today was my first day back working at the preschool. Laney attends (and Mia attended) a cooperative preschool that is run by the parents and the parents are aides to the teachers in the classroom. I only have to work every other Monday, and I've been off since Carina was born, thanks to some very nice friends who traded me for their co-op days in the early fall.

I was a mess this morning, but managed to keep it from the kids in the class - I almost cried. Instead of bawling, though, I grabbed a few of the kids who love to build and made a huge fort of blocks.

It was good for Carina, for Laney, and for me, but I missed her. And Aurelie, her babysitter today, was wonderful. Whew.

The Bear

When I was growing up, my mother would tell me a story about Samantha Ann. Samantha Ann was the imaginary person in her childhood who did whatever it was that no one wanted to get in trouble for doing. For instance, if the milk was left spilled on the counter, and no one did it, well then, it must have been Samantha Ann.

Similarly, in the comic strip Family Circus, the instigators of mischeif and mayhem and other messyness included "Nobody, "Not Me", and "Ida Know".

Lately, Laney has invented a Samantha Ann / Not Me of her own. And, it's a bear.

Mommy: Who tracked muddy feet into the dining room?
Laney: I didn't do it. Maybe a BEAR did it!

I will try to get this on video because we think it's hilarious. Unfortunately, I laughed out loud the first time she replied this way, and now it's becoming somewhat of an attention-getter. But it IS funny...

Christmas at the Beach

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This year, we spent Christmas week in Emerald Isle, NC.

We headed down a night early to try to beat the Blizzard, but met up with it in Richmond where we waited almost 3 hours in near standstill traffic before we got our turn to attempt to cross the bridge across the river. Several cars and all semi trucks were stranded at the bottom of the large incline of the un-plowed bridge. (The plows couldn't make it to the bridge through the traffic.) We made it across. Thankfully we were full of people, luggage, and Christmas presents, and had new tires. As we made our way off I95 onto I85, we stopped to call a tow truck for a stranded minivan and family who had plowed into a ravine - it was a pretty nasty drive. Patrick is a very skilled driver, and I'm thankful he was the one driving.


By the time it was nearing 3-4 in the morning and we were just out of the snow and finally in the rain, we stopped to get some sleep at an old gas station. Sleeping in the car was just fine at that point. However, should you attempt this, please remember to call those expecting you, even if it IS 4 am and there is a sleeping baby in their house (oops!).

After a few hours to freshen up and refuel our minds and bodies in Raleigh, it was smooth sailing to our beloved 3 Palms - the house we also rented in September 2008.




We started the week with a bad cold for Mia and while we passed it around , we fit in fun filled days of cooking, relaxing, cookie making, gingerbread house decorating, sea shell collecting, and even a birthday party for Jacque! What a blast.

Thanks to Neil and Jessica, I took a much-needed break from the kid-chaos for a half-day spa experience with Amanda and my mom - ahhhhh.

Although weather systems seem to try to keep us from going, I love Emerald Isle and can't wait to go back in the summer - hope you all had a Merry Christmas, too!

That Holiday Feeling

We're ready around here! Aside from the squabbles between the two older girls and the cold everyone seems to have, our house and our pocketbook are all set for Christmas and Santa! We've been busy decorating, shopping, and planning, and the kids are trying to remember that God and Santa are watching. Here are some pictures from the past few weeks. Happy Holidays!