Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Laine had her first Christmas! It was a wonderful several days that began with a visit from Kyle's Dad and stepmom and many of her family members. They brought the yummy food and we enjoyed a nice day. Sydney and Jason were in from California, the reason why Anne had her family here.

My parents came the following day and they watched the babies while Kyle and I went to a Panther's game. So much fun! The next day was Laine's first Christmas and C's 3rd Christmas! It was wonderful! We walked Colston and Laine down the stairs as my parents watched their expressions of awe. Colston was in shock at first. He was so sweet. He just looked at it all and didn't touch a thing at first. He's so polite without even knowing it. He got a 4 wheeler that really goes (outside) when he presses his foot on the peddle. He hasn't quite learned how to make it go, but I'm sure it'll just be a matter of days before it clicks. He got a kitchen (from Nana and Poppy), Sesame Street rain boots, a big dog pillow, books, a large dump truck, etc. Laine got her first baby doll from Nana and Poppy. She loves her so much already!

Beverly and Robert came the day they left for Savannah, (they are coming back through Charlotte tomorrow before heading back to NJ.) They brought a slew of gifts including a Big Wheels and another riding toy for outside. He was totally and completely spoiled with gifts by all his grandparents (and by us.) I think next year we will try and tame down the gift giving a little bit.... if we keep going at this pace we really won't have any room for anything else. They truly don't need lots and lots of toys, just a few nice things that they will get plenty of use out of. We are very appreciative though of everyone's generosity.

Where Does the Time Go?

Gosh! Last time I wrote a blog entry Laine was only 6 weeks old. Now she's almost 5 months old and changing, growing, and surprising us every day! She is SUCH a good baby! She's been sleeping through the night since she was 8 weeks old. Now we put her down around 8:30 and she sleeps until around 7:30 or 8:30am. Not a peep throughout the night. She doesn't cry unless she is sleepy or hungry. She is such a pleasant and happy baby. Colston doesn't have to do much to make her hysterically laugh at him. He enjoys dancing for her and loves even more seeing her giddy response. She loves him SO much and the feeling is mutual. He just adores his little sister. He's a boy and sometimes needs to be reminded to be gentle still, but that's ok. He'll get it.

Colston will be TWO YEARS OLD next month! My goodness! He was Cookie Monster for Halloween and Laine was his cookie. We went to a trunk of treating in Elizabeth, along with friends of ours and had so much fun. Lots of young families having a good old time. I will try and post some pictures from our evening.

So Blessed!

Colston and Laine are growing so fast! He is 20 months already and she is 6 weeks! We are enjoying them so much. Colston loves her and is so gentle with her. We barely had to teach him to be gentle-- he just knew. She changes every day, literally. He is talking up a storm and has his own little language. Most of the time I understand what he is trying to tell me, the other times I just pretend. :-)

Couldn't Be Happier!

Kyle and I are so truly blessed! Our babies are so healthy and growing so fast! Laine is 6 weeks already and changing literally every day. Colston is 20 months and just enjoying life. He is so much fun and so enjoyable. He's talking so much and definitely has his own little language. It's so cute!

Laine Has Arrived!

Beautiful baby girl Lainey! June 9, 2011 8lbs 4 oz. 20 inches long

Happy and healthy! We are blessed!

She'll be here soon!

It's finally JUNE! Lainey be here soon! I went to the doctor today (38 1/2 weeks) and he told me I'm 2 cm dilated and 80% effaced. I hadn't made this much progress with Colston at this point, but you just never know. The Dr. said it could be tonight or she could still be late. We'll see. At least these Braxton Hicks contractions are actually doing something-- they are quite uncomfortable at night, especially. Stay tuned!

I Feel So Blessed

Here I sit, feeling baby Laine move and move inside me at 35 weeks pregnant. I just read a woman's heart wrenching blog a few minutes ago about her son, Isaac that was born at 29 weeks and 4 days weighing only 1 lb. 7oz. He passed away after being in their lives, hooked up to machines and fighting for his life for 4 weeks. With tears in my eyes, I have to remember never to take my blessings for granted. Why do some people have uneventful and smooth pregnancies and other people, people who have been trying to conceive for a long while, have such difficult ones? It doesn't make any sense and it's not fair. The faith this couple has is so admirable and the love they have for each other is unbreakable. The good news is, they just adopted a healthy baby boy, Gavin. They are so happy beyond words. He is perfect in every way and they are the perfect parents to this baby boy. I met Melissa and Zo through Sydney, Kyle's step sister. Melissa is Jason's sister and Jason is Sydney's new husband. Wonderful couple... I just had to write about them as sort of a tribute to them-- how strong they are!

7 Weeks to Go!

We had our 3D ultrasound today! I so enjoyed this when we did ours with Colston so I knew I wanted to do it again with this baby. She is beautiful already! I can't believe we only have 7 weeks to go. I know it will fly by! She looks like she's ready to come out and meet the world already. Kyle and I brought my parents who are babysitting for Libby while Erin and Josh are in Italy... poor babies. Haha! Libby and Colston came too and were so well behaved.

First Trip to Disney!

On March 3, Kyle and I took Colston to Disney World for the first time. We met my parents there and stayed altogether in their timeshare. We had a wonderful time and got to see many of the Disney characters. Colston enjoyed posing for pictures with Pooh Bear, Piglet, and Eeyore. We went on lots of rides including It's a Small World and the Pooh Bear ride. We also went to Animal Kingdom and took a safari ride-- Colston has seen lots of wild animals in books, but loved seeing them in person. My parents watched C Bird Saturday night and Kyle and I had date night at a yummy Cuban restaurant. The food was so good!

A good time was had by all!!

Colston is 14 Months/20 Weeks Pregnant

Colston continues to amaze us with how observant and sweet he is. He is getting so much better at playing with his toys for longer blocks of time without getting antsy and coming to find momma. He loves Izzy, Erin's dog. He will find her and snuggle up next to her and just lay there for 5 minutes, giving her the occasional kiss on the nose. He has two huge chompers in the top of his mouth and two at the bottom which gives him the tools he needs to bite the fish heads off his goldfish snacks and also enables him to bite his cousin, Libby. He goes in for a kiss and then at times it changes to a Love Bite..... we're working on that! He is so funny-- we laugh and laugh! He turns into a different child when he's naked about to get into the bathtub. He runs around and screams like a wild man! It's hysterical! We just pray he doesn't pee pee all over the place before getting into the water.

I am halfway through this pregnancy. We found out we are definitely having a girl this time. She looks so sweet already. We feel so incredibly blessed to be having a second healthy pregnancy and it's an added bonus to be having a girl-- one of each is what we were hoping for. Now we can be done if we want-- OR in 4 years or so we'll try for a third.

Everyone asks what we're naming her. We're keeping it quiet until she enters the world. The Grandies know and of course Erin and Josh.... but everyone else will find out on the day she is born. We want some element of surprise in there!