Goin' to Carolina

Last weekend SJ and I had a wonderful treat...a visit to dear friends in Raleigh, NC. I hadn't seen my sweet friend E in about 4 years, and since then our lives have changed in so many huge ways, so it was an amazing chance to catch up and enjoy lots of concentrated time together. E has two daughters, and the youngest was born just about 6 weeks before SJ. A, shown here with her mommy, was just precious and very good at sharing all her fun toys with SJ!

Back seat buddies!

E inspired me to get out and get moving everyday we were there. She planned daily long walks with the girls in strollers, which was nice for them and gave us some precious hours to talk, talk, talk! The weather was cool and sunny...perfect for getting out and enjoying the fresh air and Raleigh's beautiful scenery. Here are our two little cuties all bundled up in snowsuits, before...

and after the walk the first day!

Long walks and talks, lunches out, wonderful meals at home cooked by E's mom and sweet husband, early bedtimes, a fun movie, and time to really focus on SJ...priceless!

What were the others girls and T up to while we were away? Well, they were here at home doing just fine, thanks to a wonderful Nana who came for 5 days to take good care of them. Thanks to Nana and our sweet friends for a fun and relaxing getaway!

Girls Just Want to Have Fun!

Here are a few looks at the girls playing together a few weeks ago.

Tummy time all around!

Just hanging out...

SJ loves face to face time with her big sisters.

LL loves holding SJ.

Surely the two cutest truck drivers ever!

We've had a few busy weeks, which I hope to post more about soon. The big day this week, however was Tuesday...when SJ turned 5 months old! She is still such an easygoing baby and is continuing to grow sooooo big. I will post some new pics and tell you about a fun first for her asap!

Wedding Weekend

The weekend between Christmas and New Year's, we went to two weddings with T's family. On Saturday, his parents' dear friends' son got married, and we dared to take all the girls along to the ceremony and reception! It really went pretty well, considering the challenge of keeping them all reasonably settled during the wedding. AG sat with Nana and Grandpa and Uncle Matthew, and LL sat with T while I stood in the back with SJ. At one point LL got a bit restless, and T said he started to sing to her really really quietly, and this was the result:She slept until we got to the reception! Here's AG with Grandpa and Nana:
and with Uncle Matthew on the walk from the church to the reception:
SJ napped with Nana during the reception...it amazes me how little ones can sleep anywhere!
And finally, just about the time we were leaving, we all were awake and managed to all get in front of the camera at the same time! Here's AG giving SJ a 4 month birthday hug!

The next day we went to T's cousin's wedding and got to see lots of family. We knew the ceremony was going to be really long, so T and I planned to arrive late with LL and SJ while AG went ahead with Nana and Grandpa. By the time we got there she was sacked out on Nana!
But she got some good rest and was ready for a little dancing with LL at the reception!
AG also danced with Grandpa. She seemed to like to stick with familiar dance partners, while LL ran around and danced with alot of complete strangers (kids and friendly grown-ups!).
But of course, one of the highlights of both weddings was the cake! Mmmmm!

4 Months...Already?

Dec. 29 marked 4 months since SJ joined us and exactly one year since we learned we were expecting her! Time flies when you're having fun, and SJ's first months have passed in a blur of activity, sweetness, and learning to juggle the needs of three little ones. She's quite a sweetie, and getting to be a bigger one by the minute, it seems! Earlier this week we went for her check-up and she weighs over 15 pounds and is 25 inches tall! Here are a few recent views: Santa baby

Tummy time

Love that laugh!

"I'll be sitting up by myself in no time!"

All dressed up

Our Next Stop...

We traveled on after our first fun Christmas celebration to Gran and PopPop's house. Here we all are after opening gifts. The girls got the rocking chairs they are sitting in.
SJ got to hang out with her Great Uncle David...


The next day I came back from an outing to find this scene on the front porch...

We roasted marshmallows again...yummy!

The girls liked trying the doll clothes Gran made on their baby dolls.

We had a great visit!

Christmas Day

SJ helped wake Daddy up on her first Christmas morning. What sweethearts!


AG and LL got to rock with Nana...

SJ visited with Mimi quite contentedly...

and modeled the hat Uncle Matthew gave her...

AG and T tried out Nanoo's new piano. Oh, to be able to really play!

Christmas Eve

To read this post as intended, please skip to the next caption (below this first picture) first and read all the way to the bottom, then come back up here... OK, you're back, thanks for your patience! I cannot figure out how to post more than 5 photos at a time without messing up the order, and I usually end up deleting them if I try to move them! (I may be calling one of you more savvy bloggers for a lesson!) Anyway, after all the eating, playing and gift-opening, it was late, but you'd never know it by looking at these two faces, would you?

We spent Christmas Eve with T's family, as usual, and all had a wonderful evening of visiting, enjoying the yummy food, watching the kids play, and opening lots of gifts. Here are just a few of my favorite photos from the time. These are T's (much younger) first cousins with our girls. Hard to believe that L, the oldest, was the flower girl at our wedding when she was just 3 (AG's age and size!) and at that time, they were expecting L's younger sister, A!

SJ got lots of attention, as you can see! From left to right, Grandpa (T's dad), Great Uncle Bill, Great Aunt Edith, and Great Aunt Camille (also known as Nanoo, Grandpa's sister, and Bill's wife!) make sure she gets some good face-time before bedtime!

This is how LL spent alot of her time that night (with equal time given to putting the food in her mouth!). She still had a bit of room left for dinner even after eating all the appetizers within reach.

L, A, Uncle Matthew, LL, AG, T's first cousin A, and Grandpa gather around to sing Happy Birthday to Jesus. The birthday cake (or cupcakes) are always the kids favorite dessert!

LL showed PawPaw how she helped make one of the gifts the girls gave him and Mimi.

OK, please go back to the top now...

AG's Christmas Program

I am finally getting around to uploading all our photos taken since the week before Christmas, and I just realized I hadn't even posted any from the night of AG's preschool's Christmas program, which was on Dec. 18. Here she is with LL before we left home, warming up for all the singing she was about to do!
I think AG and LL were saying "candy canes!!!!"

Here's the only picture I took during the program:

I recorded almost all of it but I am not sure how to post video, so I'll just say it was a great program and although the church was packed and our view wasn't great, T and I and Nana, Grandpa, and PopPop thought AG stole the show! She was certainly focused and knew lots of words and motions to the many songs they sang.

Here's a shot of AG's special guests, Nana, Grandpa, and PopPop. We missed Gran that night, as she was home with a bad cold!

Grandpa and Nana with their arms full of sweeties!

It was a special evening and a nice way to begin the celebrations of Christmas which were to come. I will attempt to post a bit each day this week to share some photos of all of our family celebrations during the holidays, so come back to visit!