I've Let It Go

Yes, I've let the blog go.  I used to have one or two friends that didn't have Facebook, that always encouraged me to post new things here, but even they have gotten on the Facebook train, and updating the blog regularly seems a little pointless...

That is until you have a ton of pictures to upload that all have a story.  Hence, the update tonight...I'd say that we have a story or two to share since October15, when I last posted!

Dirt Pies

Being Cute

Noteworthy for November:  For thanksgiving, we went to Florence to visit Jonathan's family.  It is always so much fun, but the boys especially had a blast this year.  I tried to be intentional about taking some pictures of the boys playing (we taught them about throwing leaves in the air and dirt pies...GOOD TIMES).

Throwing Leaves

Details from December:  For my birthday, Jonathan hit a home-run with an awesome surprise dinner, and then took me to the Nutcracker...it was phenomenal...I really enjoyed it!  We also hit the tree farm this year to cut down our Christmas tree - and by we, I mean Jonathan.  We normally get really tall, really full trees.  This year, we opted for a shorter, more slender tree, and I really think it might be one of my favorites EVER!  For Christmas, Jonathan took a week off, and we spent a day and a half at Great Wolf Lodge, just the four of us.  I absolutely LOVE all of our family, but wanted to spend some time with just the four of us so we could really focus on the boys before Ellis got here.  Emrick had the best time (he asked just this week to go to the swimming pool after his nap).  Becker took a while to warm up to the whole idea, but he still got some one on one time.

Nutcracker

Deciding it wasn't so bad

Having a blast

Riding in the cart at the tree farm

Our Tree 

Just a tad from January:  For Christmas, I gave Jonathan two tickets to the UNC/Maryland basketball game, and made him take a "man's day" and go to the game just to get away.  They weren't super expensive tickets, so I figured they'd be in the nosebleed section, and I worried they wouldn't really be able to enjoy the game.  Well..I was wrong!  I think they would've enjoyed the game either way, but sitting court-side for most of the game certainly didn't hurt!  It's a story Jonathan and Donald would have to tell you, but basically, a really nice stranger doing a good deed made these boys' day!  Below is the contrast of where the started and ended their day at the Dean Dome!

Fast February:  February just kinda flew by me...and because of that, there isn't a ton to note about it.  Oh, we did go to Grove Park Inn in Asheville, NC for the leaders' retreat for our church...it was a great and much needed baby moon before Ellis got here!

The view from here

Much ado about March:  Well, we finished the boys' room re-do, and we had a baby...you know, no big deal! ;)

Ellis Arrives - Typically, my deliveries take a while to get to the pushing point, but then pushing is over relatively quickly.  Ellis was different!  It still took a while to get to pushing, but then pushing took longer than I thought it would, too.  I got really tired, and my fright shot up too, when the doctor noticed Ellis was beginning to get a little stressed.  But, alas, he arrived!  None of the photos below are flattering of me AT ALL, but they definitely capture the moment!

I love this picture of Jonathan checking out the
contractions on the monitor!

At one of the moments I thought I could give up,
my rock encouraging me!  Love this moment!

They had turned me on my side to try to get
Ellis to turn to get out, but the  interesting
thing in this picture is the shadows on the wall!
What in the world?

Us with my doctor!  I love the practice I see!

Room Re-do - We also were able to get the boys' room set-up to fit all three of them (although, Ellis spends most of his nights in the living room right now, it won't be long before we are putting all three to bed at the same time in the same room, so we needed a space for that).  However, this project could not have been done without Jonathan's parents and my Aunt Jeanne!  The room is awesome!  I love that every detail was done in love!

Grammie Sue painting
(We went from tans and creams to shades of gray)

Installing Em's bed!  Hand built by Poppy

Before - This is the way we set up the room while we awaited Becker's arrival.  (Minus the dresser in the foreground).

Note:  Emrick's quilt in this picture was made by Aunt Jeanne
as well, and it is one of my absolute favorites!

Look at tiny Em!

After- There are lots of things that need to be pointed out in the after photos:  1.  The boys quilts that Aunt Jeanne made for them.  You can't see all of the details in these pictures, but they are perfect.  2.  The boys' pillowcases-Aunt Jeanne made these, they match the quilts and have the boys' names on them, and could be one of my favorite pieces in the room.  3.  The book slings - I knew I wanted to get rid of some of the shelving, so we decided we needed a new place to put books.  There are four total.  Three are the same, two on the wall, on above Becker's bed, and one on Becker's side railing. We tied the side on better and took some books out, so it hangs better now!  One of the boys' favorite activities is to read on Becker's bed so it made sense to put some books in there! We realized as soon as we hung these up that we should've put the "B" above Becker's bed, so we might end up moving it.  4. In the picture from the opposite angle, Aunt Jeanne also made the curtains, which might be my favorite part especially when they make the room cozy and dark at nap time! What you can't see is that the crib fits really well under Em's big bed too!